Love It Or Leave It

If I say: “I cannot stand the music Beyoncé’ puts out, it lacks artistic merit.” And you say: “I love Beyoncé’s music, I think it’s brilliant.” I have no problem with saying: “We’ll have to agree to disagree on Beyoncé’.” If I say: “1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” And you insist the old saw is instead: “1493 Columbus sailed the deep blue sea.” I am objectively and demonstrably right, there is no room for you to disagree.

If we are both history teachers, we cannot proceed to create a course of study until you accept Columbus’ first voyage took place in the year 1492. To do so would be a disservice to our students—we must be on one accord founded upon facts.

Unless of course you have your own agenda, one where you stand to gain through discord. Then you must insist not only on being allowed to think whatever you like about history without regard to facts, I also in your eyes must declare your false history equally valid to the truth.

The false narrative then becomes more important than advancement.  This is always the case when the narrative itself is based on the subjective rather than simple truth. There can be no unity apart from objectivity. If we cannot all agree to agree on what is objectively true, there can be no progress! This is why the hell-bound paths liberals lead people down are paved with seemingly good, but almost always-wrongheaded intentions.

That in a nutshell is why liberals or “Progressives” always fail—they trumpet the idea of diversity—but they trample on the idea of unity in diversity. They rebel against the very idea of E Pluribus Unum, "Out of many, one." The left prefers out of many…many.

Allow me to abridge what I just wrote, “Progressives” do not always fail, they are brilliant at dividing people, using diversity as a wedge, sometimes a cudgel to foment the grievances keeping people from actually uniting so the liberals can maintain their own ends.

America is weaker than she has ever been not because we are more diverse than ever before, but because we have elements today insisting on selling the idea all cultures and traditions are equally valid and should be celebrated and included. We love our hyphens today—We can’t simply be Americans.

Today, many can’t even come together in the sacrament of marriage without hyphenating names. If these diverse cultures we are to celebrate and accept as equally valid are so great, why do they not produce societies their natives desire to stay in?  If the American culture is not objectively superior to the ones their traditions and ethnicities created, why do so many diverse peoples flock here?

Why do we have the border crisis so many people, so many children are now suffering through? People from all over the world are fleeing nations where there is scarcely any diversity. Hondurans are fleeing other Hondurans, Iraqis fleeing other Iraqis…

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3

“I and my Father are one.” John 10:30

The number three represents the triune God of the Holy Bible, in fact no number represents unity and strength more than three, so it is no wonder God arranged Scripture so two of the most important verses on unity fall where their Biblical addresses are threes and multiples of three, that’s just how God rolls.

In Genesis chapter eleven the third verse, man unites and decides to build a tower to reach heaven.  In verse six, (incidentally the number six is the number of man) God says: …Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

What the people were doing at this point was a bad thing in God’s eyes I won’t go into that here, but it forced Him to split them up, the point I am making is that God declares there is nothing man cannot accomplish when we are united not just by location, but in purpose. We can all be in the United States, but if we are not united culturally, in purpose, we are weak.

In Genesis and Leviticus God teaches Israel and by extension, those of us who love Israel’s God, should welcome strangers to our lands and treat them well while they are among us. But they are not partakers of the covenants of our land if they do not willingly join themselves to our traditions and way of life we see it again in Isaiah 56:

¹ Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

² Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

³ Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

⁴ For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;

⁵ Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

⁶ Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

⁷ Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

For all people God says, but not if you want to do your own thing! Bring your Shawarma, Enchiladas and Pad see ew, they become things Americans eat, they become American food. Bring your acrobatics, your martial arts and merengue, they become American skills -- But offer them as Americans unattached to whatever flags you left behind. Don’t join yourself to America if the American flag offends you.

Don’t look for anything other than courtesy amongst us if you wish to keep yourself divided. If you follow the laws of the land and become a citizen, be an American—Learn English, participate, keep your old flags to yourselves, be they from Ireland, Mexico or Narnia.

A melting pot leads to a stronger alloy, the left’s salad leaves elements that you can take or leave—a salad still prompts people to say yuck, I don’t like tomatoes or Puerto Ricans… If your leaders are constantly reinforcing differences and stoking the flames of racial and cultural discord to garner votes and secure power for them instead of securing our borders to protect all Americans, you need new leaders.

I don’t often lean on bromides, but it seems terribly appropriate these days, America, love it, or leave it!

Digital Publius

Truth Be Told?

I had a conversation on a friend’s Facebook page that ended with the main person I was engaged with stating: “You believe in what you believe (and post) and so do I... Have good day.” [sic]

That statement is emblematic of where our society has devolved to—it is as stark an example of the 2^nd law of thermo dynamics at work sociologically as you are likely to find. Every system not isolated will tend towards disorder—there is no more powerful agent of disorder in a society than a disregard for objective truth.

If what you believe disagrees with the truth, you are simply wrong. Two people can believe something and both be in error, the two having missed the truth, but they can never both be right.

People today are more concerned with being right, or at least being perceived as right, than with objective truth or even the very idea of right and wrong. How does one determine what is right or wrong absent demonstrable truth? It seems to me, right and wrong is of little value in modern America, having given way to what works.

Have you ever read an actual historical account, or seen a film set in the past depicting an instance where a fellow is accused of lying and is willing to fight a duel to the death against his accuser to uphold his honor? That is how great a value the truth held in the past.

Today, most people would think a person mad if he were willing to risk his life to prove he was honest. That’s because ethics today are no longer tied to truth but rather situations. Contemporaneously the subjective has supplanted the objective.

For multitudes in modern America, even the God revealed in the Holy Bible is limited to the reader's opinion—This is why people so often say things like: “That is your interpretation of Scripture, not mine.” The idea the Holy Bible actually means what it says is horrifying to a person more interested in his idea of what a god ought to be, rather than who the Holy God of Revelation says He is, let alone what He reveals about His character and nature.

Man left to his druthers, prefers a god reconciled to his values, his idea of justice, as opposed to reconciling himself to God. No room for an immutable, inflexible God telling you what is good or bad.

I have often said it takes a great deal more faith than I can muster to believe in a god of my own imagining instead of the God who says “I am the way, and the truth and the life...” Today, even God must agree with fashion or He is disregarded, no room for Biblical statements like:

“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” Psalm 119:160

The end justifies the means—if you get the desired result, does it matter if what you desire is right or wrong? If you believe your intention is noble does it make it so?

Can you be a nation of laws without a healthy respect for the truth? Lawlessness was ever the handmaiden of disorder. In answer to a question, I told a person Adam and Eve in the simplest of terms were cast out of Eden, the perfect paradise God prepared for man, because they broke the rules.

The fellow derisively laughed and flippantly responded: “There are rules in paradise?” I freely confess I was stunned into an awkward silence by this educated man’s shallowness. I couldn’t believe anyone with a brain could think perfection capable of existing apart from order—order is a self-evident result of rules.

It takes discipline to submit to the truth, this is why it is so unpopular a concept. Truth takes judgment, judgment means responsibility for the truth and to the Giver of truth and who wants that? Clearly not the current President of the United States and his administration, Mr. Obama seldom allows the proverbial buck to stop anywhere in his vicinity.

George W. Bush did things I did not like and made his share of errors, but he never ran from them. He dubbed himself the “Decider-In-Chief” and stood by his decisions and took responsibility for what occurred on his watch. President Obama? Not so much.

Be it, Solyndra, Fast and Furious, the IRS, the NSA, Benghazi, the VA or the chaos building in our border states stemming from him and his Justice Department deciding which laws they will or will not enforce guided by self-interest and politics.

We have children in droves pouring over our borders from Latin America because they are being told America is no longer interested in discouraging lawlessness when it comes to immigration. The left pretends to care for the poor even as they act to increase the number of poor people in America and by doing so they are increasing the pressure on the poor already here.

The poor are the left’s bread and butter, the more poverty they can create through their calculated Hagelian chaos the better. The left’s energy strategy, economic and immigration schemes are designed to keep the poor, in need.

Increasing the pressure on energy producing entities has no effect on the rich like Al Gore, or Barack Obama when they result in rising costs—it is the poor who struggle to find the extra money they need to heat their homes and drive their cars.

If the left manages to increase the minimum wage, it will just be used to offset the rising costs associated with the President’s war on traditional energy. Racial identity and class warfare remain the tools the left uses to maintain power, loving the poor in word only. Yet those who are motivated to support the left politically seem to miss the truth, the irrefutable fact misery is increasing with the amount of governmental largesse the left heaps on them from on high.

I am reminded of the words of the Lord’s Apostle when he said: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

Truth, that unblinking, cold judge so easily ignored when discipline gives way to selfish immediacy, pride and lust in all the ways lust manifests. This is the reason modern America is shackled to chaos in government and Americans themselves are yoked to discord—no more common truth.

Truth cannot be common when truth is now subjective, driven by a refusal to accept moral absolutes. Why should the President keep the laws he himself signs? Why not act unilaterally and trade five terrorists for one soldier of dubious distinction? Keeps the folks from asking about veterans dying while waiting 90 days to see a doctor.

That is how the unseen hand works it’s magic. I’ll stick with Revelation and the God, revealed therein, I recommend you do the same! It may not be politically correct, but it has the virtue of being true.

“…If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Matthew 8:31,32

Digital Publius

Comrade God

I wrote this article several years ago on my old DP blog before the advent of Obamacare--One of the things you often find useful when you've written a blog as long as I have now, (especially when it comes to answering the tired arguments the liberals regurgitate from some website, or equally bad scholarship flowing from shallow minds) is that you have pretty much covered everything they gleefully toss out as if it is earth shattering revelation.

At no time is this behavior from leftist more unfortunate, than when they cherry pick some verse of Scripture out of context, believing it bolsters their woefully ill-informed opinions. They cannot seem to grasp Scripture is a whole and it bears witness for itself. All that to say, I am re-posting this for my new friend and readers who may have missed it in the past to arm you with what you need to overturn this particular leftist fallacy!

Last December I wrote an article titled “Capitalism for Dum Dums” in an attempt to shed light on the leftist’s propensity for perpetually clinging to failed economic models, particularly as it pertains to their distressing healthcare schemes. Think of this article as “Theology for Dum Dums”.

For those of us clinging to a rational view of reality and history, not rendered pie-eyed by the intoxicating rhetoric of utopian collectivists sitting about campfires singing Puff the Magic Dragon and reeking of Patchouli Oil, we know that socialism does not work. Whether it is “The Peoples” farm and toilet paper factory, or universal healthcare, it all invariably collapses, primarily driven by a spirit fostering sluggardly behavior.

The more adventurous leftists, the ones more likely to refer to themselves as “progressives” even hazard a go at selling socialized medicine, even socialism proper, by means of the Holy Bible. They try to accomplish this most often by quoting from the second book of the Acts of the Apostles, verse 44,45:

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”

This would appear to be a compelling argument for socialism on the surface for those inclined towards that sort of tomfoolery. Though, “ as every man had need” suggests that this was not an even distribution of resources, some obviously had less need. The problem with secular leftist Bible experts is that they do not apprehend and cannot comprehend that the Spirit driving acts like the ones depicted in Acts 2:44,45 is just that, spiritual. I like the way the great theologian Matthew Henry puts it:

“The greatness of the event raised them above the world, and the Holy Ghost filled them with such love, as made every one to be to another as to himself, and so made all things common, not by destroying property, but doing away selfishness, and causing charity.”

We see the behavior in Acts 2 repeated in Acts 4. Lets look at the whole thing in context:

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.  Acts 4:31-35

So we see these people were filled with the Holy Ghost, the very Spirit of God. Inspired by the resurrection of the Lord, these saints were convicted to lovingly act in concern for the welfare of their brothers. This was a voluntary action not an obligatory one and therein lays the power.

What we see in Acts, is the ultimate manifestation of Christian fellowship, what is mine, is yours and I share it, the ultimate in “mi casa es su casa”. Socialism says what is yours is mine and I’ll take it, an entirely different paradigm, a different Spirit.  In fact, the liberal who favors big government says; you can’t be trusted to do what’s right with what you have, so we’ll do it for you.

The goal in the Acts of the Apostles was not to bring about social or economic justice, this would nullify the Bible’s teachings on sowing and reaping taught with regularity throughout scripture. In fact we are given a harsh lesson in the hypocrisy of false giving in the story of Ananias and Saphira in the very first few lines of Acts chapter five immediately following the liberals celebrated “all things in common” verses.

The Apostles were not in the habit of subsidizing those who could work but refused to, as illustrated by Paul.

“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” II Thessalonians 3:10-15

The fact that the first century church was not a communal society is further illustrated in I Timothy:

“ Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. 3:3-5

We see here that it is family that is foremost responsible for the welfare of its own. If families take care of their own needy, Paul shows they will not be an unnecessary burden on the church, or, to take it further, society on the whole. This of course still requires the spiritual component; you have to have a heart for God. Paul says trust in God and His people. The progressive says trust in the state to do what is right with what it takes from you.

If Christ, the Apostles and the early church were socialist like so many leftists purport, they were not very good ones. If Christ were to appear in Communist China or Cuba and began teaching the parable of the “Laborers in the vineyard” Matthew 20:1-16 , the “Pounds” Luke 19:11-27 or God forbid the “Ten Talents” Matthew 25:14-30 were Jesus Christ begins; “For the kingdom of heaven is as...” and goes on to share a lesson on capitalism that would make Donald Trump blush. It is safe to say they would find themselves in a re-education camp at or even more likely up against a pitted wall before you could say Trotsky three times fast. Come to think of it, that’s exactly what happens to people in those places who teach those parables.

You would think that socialist societies would be more welcome to the teachings of comrade Jesus. No, only the fevered mind of the most dedicated progressive liberal can perceive socialism in the Good News. This is made possible by eyes covered with the cataracts of ideology dimly focused on the teachings of the God quite often they don’t even believe in.

What we find in socialist experiments in history, are that the results of forced and often times indiscriminate redistribution of resources, delivered into the hands of a flawed oligarchy whatever nomenclature is in vogue, leads inevitably to waste and lack.

This is in strong contradiction to the God of the Holy Bible who is conspicuous in His blessing of those who are wise, industrious, and generous. Unlike many of the Eastern philosophies, we who follow Christ are not taught to forsake the physical, but, we are to be mindful that God is less concerned with the physical and temporal.

Christ preached the Kingdom of God above all else and that is eternal and heavenly. He did not teach dependence upon secular government for anything, including universal healthcare in any permutation. It may not be progressive by today’s standards, but it is still true.

Digital Publius

II Samuel 24: 18-24:

Splendid Dupes and Sleepwalkers

“Evil always wins through the strength of its splendid dupes; and there has in all ages been a disastrous alliance between abnormal innocence and abnormal sin.” – G. K. Chesterton

We on the right have used the term "Useful Idiots" in describing the overwhelming majority of liberals for a very long time—The irony that so many liberals take offense to this term is highlighted by the fact it was allegedly coined to describe them by the very socialists whose programs they work so feverishly to ape in their own country. Personally, I prefer Chesterton's splendid dupes, it's so much more poetic.

The reality of what these splendid dues have truly wrought is only now becoming crystal clear to me in a more than simply academic sense! There is no escape from the leftist mindset for the liberal/useful idiot apart from coming to a saving knowledge of Christ! This nation is in serious trouble because so much of our citizenry has been so successfully and unwittingly subverted.

Nowhere is this brought into full relief in so pronounced a fashion than the so-called "Black Church." Once bastions of morality and spiritual growth, our churches have renounced objective Biblical revelation in favor of a social and racial identity gospel obsessed with "Breakthroughs" as opposed to discipling and teaching the moral tenets of a sovereign God. More occupied with spreading self help than the gospel of Christ!

You can attend some black or liberal churches for years and never hear a sermon denouncing abortion or the gay agenda one time--hard to speak against these things from the Holy Bible while you are standing in the pulpit encouraging support for the party most actively engaged in furthering those causes.

Many pastors are not recognizing the gospel they preach is another gospel, reducing God to a genie in a bottle granting wishes if believers have enough "Faith," praying their own will be done instead of His will! Ignoring Scriptures like "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:4-6

Socialism is one of the most pernicious forms of mammon and much of our nation has made their choice as to whom they serve whether they are aware of it or not--The election of Barack Obama, twice, bears witness to that fact. Most of these splendid dupes have no idea they are socialists, I have said before, American socialism is a newer mutation of the same bacillus, just renamed "Progressivism."

Socialism by it's very nature is ungodly, not only because it is needful to undermine belief in a Creator God, (The state becomes your god in socialist societies) but because it cannot exist apart from force! The God of the Holy Bible teaches personal responsibility and free will concerning charity, or the decision to follow Him. Nowhere does it teach dependence upon the largesse of men and man's constructs. When God is your source, you make for a poor "Progressive" because you have chosen to serve the Creator and not the creation.

The establishment leadership of the Republican Party is largely on the left side of the political divide as well in modern America. This is "We the People's" fault, we have been less than vigilant and poor stewards of what God has given us, squandering what the founders of this once proud nation established! We've exchanged faith and freedom for “Hope”, “Change” and “Progress” without understanding you can’t have the high-minded ideals of the latter three without the virtue that is the product of the former.

We are seeing the utter lack of virtue derived from hope, change and progress becoming detached from faith and freedom. In fact, virtue itself is seldom celebrated today. How can your ideas be thought progressive when they have lead only to more dependence upon government?

The only hope the left’s ideas encourage in people is that the state’s coffers don’t run dry before they get their entitlements. Surely not a hope in a brighter tomorrow—How can your tomorrow be brighter if you do not control your own affairs, without the self-respect that comes from independence?

That isn’t the “Change” I want, not for me and certainly not for my children. What I hear from today’s youth is the parabolic opposite of hope. When you see students interviewed at leftist protests, you see despair, they have no confidence in what can be accomplished by them in the future.

All they want to do is tear down without regard to replacing what they have razed to the ground. What will fill the void of the system they find so revolting even as they rush to consume the iPhones, lattes and computers that system makes possible? Who will innovate in the future when there is no capital to fuel ideas? What motivates those dependent upon government to innovate at all apart from force? How good is forced innovation apart from natural inspiration flowing from the possibility of self-advancement?

As the establishment Republican leadership breaks their collective backs bending over to compromise with an unyielding and determined left, here is food for thought, followed by a question: The socialist’s splendid dupe/useful idiot so prevalent on TV, in Hollywood, academia and right next-door could not have been an effective tool without the passive somnambulance characterizing the right.  The right passively sleepwalks past the socialist teaching his kids to subtly and often overtly hate America. Which is more catastrophic for our future?

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” I Thessalonians 5:3

Digital Publius

America: Shut Yo' Mouth!

I hadn’t intended on commenting on the Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers story in any meaningful way…until the NBA issued a life long ban on the tragically unenlightened Mr. Sterling, with the intent of forcing him to sell his franchise. This is extremely dangerous in an Orwellian sense. I’ll be brief.

The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated: “The views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful. That they came from an NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage.”

What the adulterous Sterling said in confidence to his equally adulterous paramour is indeed offensive to me as well, though it does me no personal harm—his racist views are no more so because he owns an NBA team. I am personally more disturbed by the reality that what I say in a private moment can be recorded and then used to strip me of my property. This is a direct assault on Constitutionally protected free speech and property rights.

I freely confess to not knowing whether there are provisions in NBA ownership agreements that may have been violated by Mr. Sterling when his private words were made manifest--As an American, I am suspect of this sort of force.

It is an easy thing to protect speech we agree with, however, the nation’s character is best defined by how we react to speech we disagree with. This is the plumb line that trues the worth of a totally free society. There is no inherent right not to be exposed to the repugnant.

If we look at the history of American professional sports with an honest eye, beginning with Kenny Walker breaking the color line in the National Football League and then Jackie Robinson a year later in Major League Baseball, do you think all those owners bigotry dissolved after those moments? The other owners followed suit because it made economic sense to do so, not because they suddenly saw how despicable they had been.

There are very real consequences to all of our actions, but let us not be hypocrites! I have heard just about every black person I know say some very racist things about whites in private conversation—things they would not like their employers in corporate America to be privy to, including at times similar views on interracial relationships.

I have no problem with fines, but the consequences in the aftermath of Donald Sterling’s loathsome private views made public concerning ownership, should be decided by just that, the public. Not through bureaucratic force, but rather the marketplace. If you are sincerely outraged or “Damaged” by Sterling’s views, don’t go to Clippers games while he is the owner.

If the Staples Center is empty whenever the Clippers are in residence, or whenever they play on the road people stay away in droves, the marketplace will speak firmly: “Bigotry is profoundly frowned upon by decent folk.” If the marketplace does not respond by staying away, that will in fact speak even more loudly of where the nation is on interracial romantic relationships and our tolerance for racist ideology.

If Sterling had said these things publically, it would indeed be damaging for the NBA. But that a bigot exists in professional sports is not the least bit shocking. Bigotry, without regard to race creed or color is symptomatic of man’s fallen nature and if you have prejudices like those expressed by Sterling in your heart it is a sure sign of being a reprobate.

This is true whether it manifests as Sterling’s brand of overt racism, or a more subtle overall obsession with your racial identity to the point it blinds you to the faults within yourself or your own group.

If you don’t like what Sterling said don’t tune into Clippers playoff games, don’t go to the games. If the best players choose to take a large salary to play for him, the money is more important to them than their principles. If the best players of any race refuse to play for him, if people don’t support his team—he will have to sell.

That is how you decide how your speech should be regulated, not by bureaucrats, but by the public’s actions—simply banning him for his wrongheaded beliefs takes away a person’s right to hold wrongheaded beliefs—no change will occur, just more bitterness.

The NBA’s reaction to Sterling’s private comments made public reminds me of the Words of the Lord: “And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.” Luke 11:39

Digital Publius

Coke Where Is Thy Fizz?

I don’t know that there is anyone in God’s little acre more devoted to a brand than I am to Coca Cola. That being said, the nation’s soda of record almost drove me into the far less potable arms of Pepsi Cola after seeing the dreadful Super Bowl ad they inflicted upon the world last night. 



Coke hit exactly the wrong note! Now before I am dubbed the Grand High Shahu of Xenophobia—I can assure you I am one who delights in all manner of ethnic diversity! However, if I may wax in the vernacular: “Last time I looked, this here was the United States of America!”

The sort of leftist propaganda the carbonated corporate giant indulged in with their new ad, is precisely the rhetoric playing a key role in the growing racial unrest unfortunately sweeping the whole of Europe and the United Kingdom as group after group refuses to be engrafted—The woefully wrongheaded notion that multiculturalism must denounce an expectation of assimilation. It makes one wonder why they left their native lands if they do not want to be a part of the land they immigrated to? It really is the apex of conceit.

The official language of the United States and the language of commerce are English. It is entirely possible to celebrate the wonderful unity our nation engenders under a flag that proudly waves above anyone who wishes to be a part of her, without enabling those unwilling to learn a common tongue.

A mélange need not lose it’s savor, as it blends in, it enhances the whole—homogenization brings differing elements together, makes them stable and keeps them from separating. This is the beauty of American republicanism!

The left seems to prefer Babel, a lack of linguistic understanding as they promote by indulging those who refuse to make an effort to learn English, serves only to repel—it makes it much easier to divide and conquer, to keep groups apart! How do you sow understanding if people are not on the same page? How can we be on the same page if we can’t communicate? How do you build trust?

Coke could have made a wonderful statement simply by having all of those various peoples unite in a common language and desire to indulge in that most lovely of elixirs—Have them all in English saying: “Hi, have a Coke and a smile!” You then celebrate diversity in a way that promotes the nation’s variety without discord! Harmonious voices—“Enjoy Coca Cola,” not a cacophony!

“Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” Romans 12:16


Digital Publius

POTUS on Pot

Today I shall be brief as I have my wits about me! When I see the President of the United States of America stating:

“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”

My parental head explodes! Firstly, allow me to establish that this posting is not an invitation to debate the legalization of pot rendered to every leftist Liberal and or Libertarian plying their trade across the Internet. I am not interested in your opinion on the subject in the least—I have heard the arguments!

This is I, as a parent, expressing my contempt for a President who would disembowel all the efforts made to keep our children away from drug experimentation. I do not want my children smoking pot!

When you say: I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol. You are half right, you in fact don’t think! As for the actual science regarding marijuana use, your whitehouse.gov website as recently as the 27^th of this month featured an article submitted by the US government’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in support of the National Association of School Nurses' Position on the Legalization of Marijuana which states without equivocation:

Given research indications that marijuana is harmful to the developing brain, [1] we are especially concerned about the repercussions of use on the health, safety, and education of adolescents. On January 27, 2014, based on overwhelming scientific evidence, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Board of Directors adopted an official position statement [2] outlining the negative impact of marijuana legalization on the health of students. ONDCP supports NASN in bringing attention to this issue.

1.  Meier MH, Caspi A, Ambler A, Harrington H, Houts R, Keefe RS, McDonald K, Ward A, Poulton R, Moffitt TE.  Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012, Aug 27.

2. It is the opinion of the NASN that marijuana is properly categorized by the DEA under Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act. NASN recognizes the overwhelming evidence that “any change in the legal status of marijuana, even if limited to adults, could affect the prevalence of use among adolescents.”

This article has now been wrongheadedly removed because the White House is now more concerned with backing the ill-informed statements of the President than its charge to render sound, useful information on the truth about substance abuse to the American public.

The NASN’s position is bolstered when you consider the Democrat Governor of Vermont’s State of the State Address was almost entirely focused on the increase in opiate use in his state. This is the same Governor who signed the law last June decriminalizing pot use in Vermont. Lets just ignore the whole gateway drug argument though right? Even though the good Governor stated:

• In 2013, there were twice as many federal indictments against heroin dealers than in the prior two years, and over five times as many as had been obtained in 2010.

• Last year, we had nearly double the number of deaths in Vermont from heroin overdose as the prior year.

So when you, the so-called “Coolest President Ever” says regarding legalization in Colorado and elsewhere: “it’s important for it to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished."

And that pot is no more dangerous than alcohol, what kids hear is the President saying pot is no big deal effectively throwing parental warnings against a harmful substance given in concern for their children under the bus.

As for the POTUS on pot, well I for one will thank you to think before making statements unsupported by actual facts on an issue as important as drug use Mr. Obama. Educate yourself so you can serve the people and not your ideology—Until then, please keep your benighted, adolescent choom addled opinions to yourself President Toke!

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Isaiah 5:20,21

Digital Publius