A 12-Step Liberal Recovery Program

I found this online and thought it worthy of sharing.

A 12-Step Liberal Recovery Program
by Burt Prelutsky

Most 12-step programs start out by requiring that people understand that they’re powerless over their addiction and that only by turning their lives over to a Power greater than themselves can they be restored to sanity. Far be it for me to suggest that I am that Power, but clearly someone has to step in and try to rescue these poor liberal souls. Even the most harebrained among them deserves that much.

First, though, they have to acknowledge that Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Dick Durbin, Charles Rangel, Harry Reid and Charles Schumer, are not moderates, but, rather, leftists with a Socialist agenda. Furthermore, they must recognize that the New York Times, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times, CNN, the three major networks, the news magazines and the New Yorker, are not objective in their reporting of political events, and neither are Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Bill Maher, in their commentary. If these entities and individuals are not on the payroll of the DNC, they certainly should be. They certainly put in longer hours than Howard Dean.

Step #1: It is high time that every American be guaranteed the right to speak freely. It is not reserved solely for left-wing college students who wish to take advantage of the first amendment to shout down conservatives. At the same time, they must not construe the conservative’s right to dismiss them as arrogant idiots as censorship.

Step #2: Affirmative action argues that African Americans and Latinos are intellectually inferior and are unable to compete academically unless other students are handicapped because of their race. Interestingly enough, when blacks and Hispanic students are given these unfair advantages, it’s rarely at any cost to white students, whose rate of college admissions remains constant; instead, it’s nearly always another minority group, Asians, who pay the price. This is what left-wingers refer to as leveling the playing field.

Step #3: Liberals always claim to be in favor of higher taxes, agreeing with Bill Clinton that the government invariably spends money more wisely than those who actually earn it. However, such prominent proponents of higher taxes as George Soros, Ted Kennedy and Mr. and Mrs. John Kerry, protect their own otherwise taxable income through trusts and offshore accounts. Obviously, any American who believes higher taxes are a good thing can do the honorable thing by spurning all deductions and paying Uncle Sam everything up to 100% of his income.

Step #4: Even the most secular of liberals seems to believe that Jimmy Carter is a saint. The evidence for this seems to be that he has on occasion posed with a hammer in his hand at Habitat for Humanity building sites and is constantly walking around with a expression on his face that suggests he has just forgiven Pontius Pilate for betraying him. This is the same fellow, let us never forget, who called Yasser Arafat his good friend and who has accepted untold millions of dollars from Arab cut-throats, who ask nothing in return except that he go on insisting that there would be peace in the Middle East if only those darn Israelis would disappear from the face of the earth.

Step #5: Stop insisting that all wars are bad. It only makes you sound daft. Carrying signs that equate a U.S. president, any U.S. president, with Adolph Hitler is not only rude, but suggests you’re certifiably nuts. Every president has left office right on schedule. Aside from FDR, who just happened to get elected four times, not one of them has remained in office beyond eight years. On the other hand, Hitler ran Germany for 12 years and only death and the allied forces brought that to an end; Stalin ran the Soviet show for 31 years; while that hero of the left, Fidel Castro, held the reins, not to mention the whip, for about 50 years.

Step #6: Repeat after me, “Separation of church and state” exists nowhere in the Constitution. The first amendment does not require the removal of Christmas trees from the village green, the 10 Commandments from courthouse walls or “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. All it does is forbid Congress from establishing a state religion, such as the Church of England, and anybody who tells you otherwise is a liar and, most likely, a card-carrying member of the ACLU.

Step #7: Stop using the word “big” as a pejorative. There is nothing intrinsically bad about big oil, big agriculture or big pharmaceuticals. Overall, they do a very good job of keeping our cars on the road, food on our tables and most of us over 60 alive and functioning. On the other hand, big government, which so many liberals simply adore, represents a usurpation of the allegedly inalienable rights of individuals. A quick perusal of the Constitution should convince you that beyond declaring war, forging treaties, overseeing patents, printing money, running the post office, collecting taxes and protecting our borders — and a few other things that Washington doesn’t do at all well these days — the federal government has very limited responsibilities.

Step #8: Acknowledge that the United Nations is, in the main, an aggregation of venal diplomats who live high off the hog in New York City while representing the most corrupt and vicious regimes in the history of the world. Only a fool or a diplomat would continue to suggest that this gang of well-dressed thugs possesses anything resembling moral authority.

Step #9: Do not keep insisting that at a time when nearly all the large scale evil in the world is being perpetrated by Muslims that racial profiling is anything but a sensible approach to airport security. During WWII, Swedish Americans were not suspected of performing espionage for the Axis powers and for a very good reason; namely, because they weren’t performing espionage for the Axis powers. These days, their Swedish American children and grandchildren are not suspected of trying to blow up airlines, but the smarmy bureaucrats insist on pretending that they’re every bit as likely to be up to mischief as a bunch of 25-year-old Osama bin Laden look-alikes from Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Step #10: Stop trying to pretend that illegal aliens are the same as legal immigrants just so you can claim the moral high ground and accuse those of us who are opposed to open borders of being racists.

Step #11: Once and for all, stop forgiving murderers. Whether or not you’re in favor of capital punishment, only the victim of a crime has the right to grant forgiveness. And inasmuch as the killer has deprived his victim of that ability, don’t take it upon yourself. It doesn’t prove how compassionate you are, only that you’re as sanctimonious and as self-aggrandizing as, say, Jimmy Carter.

Step #12: Stop bashing the U.S. military and the Boy Scouts. The only reason you have the ability to shoot your mouth off is because men and women braver and better than you sacrificed life and limb for your right to do so. As for the Boy Scouts, they are absolutely right to keep homosexuals from taking youngsters on camping trips. While it’s true that many gays are perfectly fine people and that very few homosexuals are pedophiles, there’s no reason on earth to take unnecessary risks just so we can all prove how broadminded we are. For what it’s worth, as decent as most Catholic priests are, I wouldn’t let them take youngsters into the woods, either. It’s fine to be compassionate and understanding, but let the gays among us be understanding for a change and acknowledge that, every so often, common sense should trump political correctness.

And, finally, making this a baker’s dozen, Step #13: Let us all agree that while being a woman, a black, a Jew, a Catholic, a Mormon or even a gay, for that matter, should in no way preclude anyone from being elected president of the United States, none of those things constitutes a very good reason to vote for someone.

Observation and correction while at a NC aquarium

Say Thanks to a Soldier. PASS IT ON!

I started a web page (sure it is nothing major right now, but it will evolve) as a simple way to pass the word about saying "thank you" to our U.S. military. www.saythankstoasoldier.com is a simple way of saying thank you. When time and resources permit, I will build a full web site rather than just the starter page. In the meantime, pass the word.

A letter I sent both of my US Senators

I strongly urge you to vote against Eric Holder's nomination for Attorney General. He has a long history of being unfriendly to something as fundamental as the right to keep and bear arms. This is a guarantee that was fought for when the Bill of Rights was founded, and this freedom has constantly been eroded over time. To have someone with a disdain and disrespect for this right as the chief law enforcement officer of the nation would be an act of injustice towards law abiding Americans. Please act to block the confirmation of Eric Holder.

You can do the same.
Richard Burr - 202-224-3154,
http://burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm


Kay Hagan - 202-224-6342, Senator_Hagan@hagan.senate.gov.

From my friends at ALIPAC

Just as certain hot spots in the nation became critical battlegrounds in the national fight against illegal immigration, such as Waukegan, Illinois, Farmers Branch, Texas, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Prince William County, VA, and many others, now Chatham County, NC is a focal point.

While the 287(g) program, which saves innocent American lives from criminal illegal aliens, is sweeping the state of North Carolina thanks in part to your efforts!

Unfortunately, the pro-illegal alien groups are trying to set a precedent to reverse or stall our progress. They got the Chatham County Commissioners to vote to block all local police in the country from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. What is worse is that they did it in secret by voting on the measure as the second to last item in a planning meeting.

So while the NC media and taxpayers had no idea this measure would be voted on, the illegal alien supporters did and many of their leaders spoke in favor of the practice.

We need your help!

Please review the following materials and then craft your own call, e-mail, and letter to the Chatham County Commissioners.

Here is our main message...

"We call on the Chatham County Commission to reconsider this issue, reconsider their vote, and to do so with proper notification and public comment!"

Please take the following steps.

1. Please review these videos. We hope that the messages and tactics found in these videos will be of assistance to you in your efforts to get 287(g) in your community. If you approve of these videos, please send them to others in your network, vote them 5 stars, Favorite them, and make supportive comments.

Chatham County Illegal Immigration Debate: William Gheen Speech pt. 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq16_qgVRJE

Chatham County Illegal Immigration Debate: William Gheen Speech 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vp3cCAcyyU&feature=channel_page

Chatham County Illegal Immigration Debate: William Gheen Speech 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EPocaL2d5U&feature=channel_page

2. Review our press release and the article about this issue.

Chatham Co. Residents Call on Commissioners to Reconsider Immigration Vote
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-144491.html

N.C.: Chatham County not involved with ICE program
http://www.alipac.us/article-3922-thread-1-0.html

ALIPAC's Open Letter to the Chatham County Commission
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-144366.html


3. Craft your own message and call, call, call these commissioners with your message! Then follow up with and e-mail and/or letter.

Here is the contact information you should use. With George Lucier leading the way, all five voted to block local police from working with I.C.E.

Chatham County, North Carolina
12 East Street
P.O. Box 1809
Pittsboro, NC 27312
TEL (919) 542-8200
FAX (919) 542-8272
http://www.chathamnc.org

Commissioners:

George Lucier, Chair (District 3)
628 Redbud
Pittsboro NC 27312
919-542-4629
glucier@earthlink.net


Sally Kost, Vice Chair (District 1)
1101 New Hope Church Road
Apex, NC 27523
(919) 367-0727 (home)
(919) 696-7840 (cell)
SallyKost@gmail.com

Allen Michael "Mike" Cross (District 2)
388 Cross Point Road
P.O. Box 173
Moncure, NC 27559
(919) 774-3309
duckdogcross@aol.com


Carl E. Thompson, Commissioner (District 5)
67 Robert Thompson Road
Bear Creek, NC 27207
(919) 837-2407
cethompson@embarqmail.com


Tom Vanderbeck, Commissioner (District 4)
8180 Old Graham Road
Pittsboro, N.C. 27312
919-545-2160
Tom@Vanderbeck4chatham.org


We are told that Chatham County Sheriff Richard Webster may be open to joining with Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the County Commissioners will stop blocking him.

Here is his contact info:

Chatham County, North Carolina
Sheriff's Office
295 West Street
P.O. Box 429
Pittsboro, NC 27312
TEL (919) 542-2811
FAX (919) 542-8272

http://www.chathamnc.org/Index.aspx?page=978


To email Sheriff Webster
richard.webster@chathamsheriff.com


The ALIPAC Team
www.alipac.us

And my email to all of the above:

I am writing to you all to express my dismay at your decision to prohibit participation in the 287(g) program by your county law enforcement agency. As protectors of the public, I find it beyond comprehension that you would decide to make Chatham County, in effect, a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, especially those with criminal backgrounds. It is bad enough that our federal government has abrogated their responsibilities in securing our borders, but for a county government to encourage such immigration and attract those who ought not be in this country to begin with and offer safe haven for known criminals is a violation of the public trust.

One of the few positive things that a government can do is actively protect its citizenry. There are some county Sheriffs that are attempting to secure such for their jurisdictions, such as Sheriff Steve Bizzel over in Johnston County. Instead of capitulating to politically correct twaddle, he actually gets support from his county commissioners to work towards securing that county from undue criminal influence.

I urge you to reconsider your breach of responsibility in your recent decision to fail to allow your county servants to participate in one of the few programs that makes sense any more in this country, the 287(g) program for dealing with immigration authorities, policies, and immigrants. Should you fail to do so, the future of your county safety and financial stability will be in serious jeopardy. You are going to attract the criminal element to your county as well as those who drain economic resources.

Please do the right thing for Chatham County and the entire State of North Carolina and reconsider your faulty decision, do so in a public spotlight rather than stealthily as you took your original decision.

Sincerely,

Troy M. LaPlante
A citizen that is very uneasy about your decision taking and reasoning abilities

Wackenhut is persecuting someone for being in the National Guard. Let them know what you think.

From an email list I get:

First Class Gary Norris is from the Guard unit in the city where we lived for 18 years and where Marc grew up. Wackenhut Corporation is violating the USERRA laws that protect our reservist and guard members who choose to serve. He has been told "to decide where his allegiance lies; either with the military or with the company." They are trying to force his resignation and have demoted him from Lead Supervisor on Night shift, reduced his pay, taken his days off and vacation time. This is one of our brave warriors who has served two tours in the Middle East and preparing to go again in 2010 and he needs our help.

Please share this with everyone you know and stand behind this warrior and make phone calls and send emails. Also please copy webkey1@juno.com, (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve organization and Wally Bothum is the state ombudsman)

Oregon

The Wackenhut Corporation

pormail@wackenhut.g4s

5319 S.W. Westgate Dr., Ste. 125
Portland, OR 97221-2411
Tel (503) 291-1005
Fax (503) 291-1073


The Wackenhut Corporation
4200 Wackenhut Drive
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Tel: (+1) (561) 622 5656
OR: (+1) (800) 922 6488
Web: www.wackenhut.com

Thanking you in advance,

Debbie Lee crazilee007@msn.com

Wackenhut, you are just plain WRONG in this. If I am ever in a position to hire a security company for a company where I work, I will NEVER hire yours. And your company is fairly active around here.

Enough of the "impeach Obama" talk already!

I am definitely no fan of Barack Obama. I don't like a socialist in office as my chief executive. Then again, George W. Bush has not exactly been a small government type, either and was a huge disappointment in many ways. In other ways, he did the right thing. They both deserves praise where warranted and criticism where warranted.

Obama has already made some huge mistakes, in my opinion, and has been in office less than a week. The decisions to allow embryonic stem cell research, fund abortion in foreign nations, close Gitmo, and nominate a huge tax cheat as head of the Treasury Department (including IRS) are the ones that readily come to mind.

However, I have a huge problem with the movement to impeach the sorry excuse for a decision taker. Just because a President takes decisions that I do not like, that I find repulsive, or are unethical does not make him a candidate for impeachment. It makes him a candidate for unelection.

The Constitution has specific states in Article II, Section 4, "The President, Vice President, and all other civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors." Bad decision taking as described in the last paragraph do not qualify as treason, bribery, high crimes, or misdemeanors.

There are other things such as a disputed qualification for the presidency, also outlined in that same article, such as being a natural born citizen. If that qualification can be proven to be truly unmet, then I am all for removing Obama from office. Until then, I do not much care for the constant call by hypocritical conservatives for Obama's impeachment. I have gotten a bunch of emails, invitations, and solicitations to join internet groups, message boards, social networking groups, and messages from those who are calling for impeachment or are already planning for it. This makes us no better than the whack job liberals who constantly called for George Bush's impeachment and now for his arrest and prosecution.

Impeachment is akin to the indictment for a crime. Impeachment itself is NOT removal from office. A conviction after impeachment will result in removal from office. I am not into removing someone from office with whom I happen to disagree strongly and certainly not for unconstitutional reasons.

Rest assured, however, if Barack Obama commits acts consistent with a constitutional reason for removal from office, as did Bill Clinton, then I will be all for the clarion call and will be sounding it myself.

If you want to impeach someone, start with Hillary Clinton, who was not eligible to become Secretary of State under Article I section 6 of the US Constitution.

"No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time."

Hillary voted for a pay increase for the Secretary of State. Therefore, she is not eligible to receive the benefit of its salary. This is not just a political stance as some boneheads have alleged. It is the intent of the writers of the Constitution to prohibit the very thing that is happening. A legislator assented to raise the pay for a job that she herself was going to end up taking. The clause does not say that if the salary is lessened that she is then eligible. Law is law.

The Obomination begins

It is finally over. The inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama is done. I have been so tired of hearing about Obama and the upcoming inauguration. Because it is a snow day and we have a good amount of it in our region, most of the area is shut down and I got to catch the inauguration.

Let me get this out of the way. I do not have a hatred for Barack Obama or racist feelings towards him. I do, however, despise his character, his lack of experience, his playing the race card, the racist (almost cult like) following he has, and his views. It is all about the issues and principles. I could not care less about the color of his skin. His supporters, however, apparently do.

I know decent Christians who abandon their belief system in supporting the "Black man", regardless of the fact that he is antithetical to their espoused belief system. I have heard so many well meaning people say that Obama is the realization of Martin Luther King's "dream" of racial equality and advancement of the Black race. Well, keep in mind that Obama is only HALF Black. Of course the half Caucasian ancestry is irrelevant to those who wish to self promote.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I despise the racism that got Obama elected and his socialist views. What amazed me was the benediction given by the Rev. Joseph Lowery. All I could do when I heard it was to raise a middle finger at the TV. Here is the end of the benediction speech.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen

Now THAT was blatant racism. "...and when white will embrace what is right." Sorry, but that is a very racist assumption that all whites in America are inherently racist and will work to suppress all other races. That is just wrong and in itself racist. I despise racism, and I do not care from whence it comes.

Possibly the most beautiful picture I have ever seen

My lovely wife, Sharon, on our wedding day with her son, John.

Your chance to win Bible study software

Head over to author, Anne Jackson's (Mad Church Disease) blog for a chance to win The Scholars' Library software. You can find the contest at this link, and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment with a verse of scripture that you find encouraging. The winner will be picked from those that leave a comment.

Well worth watching

Take the 16 minutes needed to watch this great short film. It will put a smile on your face.

A classic by Paul Shanklin

Penn Gillette respects a Christian

I actually like Penn & Teller. They are a very talented duo. They are gifted humorists and illusionists. They even have an entertaining show on the Showtime network. I may not always agree with them, especially when they deal with matters of religion, but they do have the courage to tackle some tough subjects. They are avowed atheists who crudely lampoon Christianity (and other religions). Here is a podcast by Penn Gillette about his encounter with a genuine believer.

Learn about the militia and the meaning of the 2nd Amendment

Attacked by lesbians

I can tell that I am going to have fun writing a column when I get attacked by a group of lesbians and homosexual men. People will make all sorts of excuses for their abhorrent behavior and turn the tide against someone who takes a stand for traditional family values.

I am active on the web site, Facebook. I have a lot of friends from church groups, political groups, family, and both local and long distance contacts on both Facebook and Myspace. I am more active on Facebook, however.

On Facebook, people often post links to news stories of interest. This one woman posted a link to a story about how some Congressional leaders are taking a stand against the radical homosexual agenda. As a Christian, a conservative, a parent, and a citizen, I have a major problem with the agenda of the radical homosexual movement. Don't get me wrong, I could not care less what people do in the privacy of their own homes. I just don't want it flaunted in public, taught as normalcy, and certainly do not want my children (yes, soon to be plural) indoctrinated into such a paradigm.

There were several people in this discussion who were lampooning conservatives for paying attention to such a thing as an advancing homosexual agenda when we have a "financial crisis", war, and whatever else they find to be important issues of the day. I find the repulsion of the homosexual advance just as if not more important, since it is a destroyer of family, of morals, and the very order of nature.

These people were clamoring that they have civil rights and that these rights are being denied to them by ignorant, Bible thumping fundamentalists such as myself. I was told that there exists a two way separation of church and state, though it is not in the Constitution, nor were the words of Thomas Jefferson taken in their context for the usage of that term.

There are several things I noted during the discourse. The homosexuals attempted to minimize their agenda to three things: military service, monogamy, and parenting rights. There was no mention of indoctrination of children, demanding the accepting of divergent sexual behavior as a civil right, and the recognition of a class of people who choose a particular behavior as a protected minority class.

The last one is a civil argument that few are willing to tackle or be intellectually honest concerning. The truth of the matter is that homosexuality is a choice. Regardless of the spurious claims, we are talking about behavior, not about something genetic such as skin color. If such behavior is indeed genetic, we can make excuses for criminal behavior, as well. Perhaps Charles Manson has a gene in his DNA that gave him a propensity for violence and murder. If it is genetic, then he can not help that behavior and we should release him from prison, since he is not responsible for his actions. Of course that rationality is absurd, but it is the end result of that thought process.

My assertions of homosexuality being a choice, that the homosexual agenda is much more far-reaching than the three points, and that homosexuality is a sodomite, divergent behavior were never denied. Instead, the sodomites chose to find personal fault with the messenger. This is a typical liberal tactic. Since they could not refute my logic, the discussion boiled down to a lesbian attempting to claim moral superiority over me because her lover is a female veteran of the Gulf War, whereas I was never in the military. Because she sleeps with a lesbian that was honorably discharged for the armed services, I guess that makes her above reproach. She gains credibility for her lifestyle by association with someone with military service, in her opinion. Ergo, in her estimation, I am not allowed to condemn sodomy as evil. The argument is so twisted it is not funny, but somehow the tactic, as illogical as it is, gets employed by homosexuals and liberals incessantly.

When I pointed out the hypocrisy of her supporting a candidate for President such as Barack Obama, who has zero military experience, to become Commander in Chief while impugning my stance for traditional family values, the finger was again pointed to me. I was told that I had no moral grounds to say that a female war veteran and sodomite is practicing evil.

It is this sort of perverse logic that is used to excuse sin as a civil right. Those, like myself, who stand up and say that it is inexcusable behavior and not to be given the status of a civil right, will be labeled as bigots and judgmental. If people want to label me as such, fine, just stand in line. We will continue to face such moral decay and cries for civil rights where they do not exist. Resist the cry. Stand for righteousness. There is an ultimate judge to whom we all must give account.

People have been warning of the economic situation for YEARS!

An excellent talk on the proposed auto industry bail out

This video was made just before the Senate voted down the bail out. HOWEVER, make no mistake that it will come up again soon.

Countdown to our blessed event

New addition to the LaPlante family

For years, I have wanted a family. I am not just talking about having a wife and in-laws. I first got married at age 26, back in 1994. I really wanted children, but my then wife was resistant to the idea like an Army mule. At one time she was receptive to the concept prior to marriage, but then she went right back to the disdainful attitude she once had towards children.

I have always loved children. Little kids often cling to me and climb on me like a jungle gym. I have always loved having little cousins, nephews, and children of friends to play with. I have enjoyed having cats and dogs over the years, as well. However, it was never the same as having your own. I languished and literally wept for years over being childless. I was the only one of the five LaPlante brothers to not have children.

Almost a year and a half ago, my now ex-wife was caught in adultery and she left to live with the man with whom she was cheating. I went through Hell with that situation for various reasons I have already blogged. Three months after she left, I met and dated one woman that I really liked for about 3 weeks, but she turned out not to be as she appeared on the surface. It was a crushing blow to have just gone through a betrayal, false legal accusations, and separation; then to go through a fast moving but very odd relationship that ended abruptly. I can say with all sincerity that I was wronged in that relationship and I was hurt by this woman.

One week after that relationship suddenly ended, I met Sharon. December 3, 2007 was a day that changed my whole life. That was one year ago today. God brought an intelligent, attractive, affectionate, loyal, caring woman into my life and we clicked immediately. After knowing each other just one week, we knew in what direction we were headed with the relationship. We both wanted a family together. She wanted another child (she already had a wonderful five year old son, who was four when we met) and I wanted my first. On October 12th of this year, we married. We has prayed, talked about, and shared about wanting to start a family together as soon as we got married.

I remember when the two of us were traveling for a day trip to the beach and I asked Sharon if she was happy. She said she was very happy. I asked her what would make her happier. She answered, "Marry me." I told her that as soon as I could legally do so, I would. We still had some legal matters to which I needed to attend, such as getting my divorce finalized. I asked her, "What else?" to which she replied, "Impregnate me." I thought that was an amazing response, being most unexpected in verbiage but not sentiment. I wanted to do that very thing with all my heart.

After our wedding day, we got away for our week long honeymoon in Duck, North Carolina on the Outer Banks. We both love the OBX (as it called). I had been there more often than she had and knew the area more so than she. If memory serves correctly, she said she had only been there once previously. We had a wonderful time on our honeymoon. It was a great time of intimacy, of relaxation, of reflection, and joy. It was also apparently a productive time...or reproductive time, as the case was.

My men's group had prayed about us having a family quickly. I had shared with my pastor about wanting this very thing. I had cried out to God about wanting children. I am now 40 years old and had been feeling gypped out of having kids and having wasted 14 years of my life for a long time. I have enjoyed loving on my new niece and nephew (Sharon's sister's children) whenever I have been able to do so and had been pretty much already a step daddy to Sharon's son for months before our wedding day. I have been his daily daddy, supporting him, playing with him, teaching him, and doing all the things daddies do for their children even if though he is not my biological son. I have endeavored to treat him as my own son as much as I can within the circumstances I find myself. But those circumstances are for another discussion for another day.

On Sunday afternoon (I am writing on Wednesday night), Sharon was not feeling well. She was extremely sick on Monday, stayed home from work, and went to see a doctor. She was advised to take a pregnancy test as a precaution. On Tuesday, my mother-in-law got on Sharon's case about taking a pregnancy test, since she was certain that she was pregnant and did not just have the flu. Her grandmother thought the same thing and just this weekend swore she was pregnant. To placate her mother, Sharon took a test and it was positive. She took another later on in the day with the same result. I bought a different brand as a control test and she took that one a few hours later. All three tests were positive. After just 51 days of marriage, we may had just found out that we are pregnant.

With that knowledge in hand, we called a local OBGYN practice for an appointment today. The last time I had called seeking information months ago, they said that there was about a one month wait to get an appointment since they were so booked. They got us in this afternoon. Sharon had been sick often during the day and had not been able to keep any food down. Another test in the office proved positive. We were not going to get an ultrasound done, we were told, since they were booked for the whole day. However, just before leaving, they squeezed us in just before the contract ultrasound technician left for the day.

We got to see our baby on the live results screen. He or she is just a tiny little thing, estimated to be 7 weeks, 2 days old according to the size. We have an estimated due date of July 20 of 2009. The incredible thing is that the estimate of 7 weeks or so puts the date of conception right in the first few days of our honeymoon. Our prayers were answered.

I am so very grateful and joyful that I am finally going to have a baby with a wonderful woman that I am proud to call my wife. Thank you, Lord God, for your abundant blessings.

I know, I know. So long between posts

For some time, I have been reticent to write too much. I still have one outlet for writing, but I have been mighty quiet. This entire election season, I have decided to refrain from too much commentary. I do not know if it is a season I am going through or what. For the last year, almost, I have not been blogging much. I have not been doing my talk show in the internet. I have, however, been doing my teaching show with two other guys. I just have not felt like blogging too much for some reason. It used to bring me satisfaction. Then again, so did collecting firearms and being on firearms related web sites. I have seriously backed off from that, as well. I shut down one of my web sites. I have focused more on my relationship with my (now) wife and family, some studies, church service, reading, personal interests, and just plain being quiet. Maybe I will pick up the blogging again soon. I don't know.

Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think I am

I was accosted a little bit ago by a little woman clutching a bag full of gospel tracts, a Bible, and other belongings. She was all of 4 foot 11 at the most. This may sound mean, but she would certainly make the top 10 list of ugliest women I have ever met in my lifetime. She had a bulbous nose that almost looked like a male appendage dangling from her face, a mustache, and she could floss her teeth with rope there were so many of them missing. All of this aside, she was rude and obnoxious.

When Sharon and I got out of the car a few minutes ago, she came up to us as we crossed the street for our stop at Creech's Drug Store. Sharon got an antibiotic prescription because she has the flu. This lady asked us if we knew the Lord. I informed her that both my wife and I were born again Christians. We kept walking, but she started to follow like a puppy dog. She asked if I was Spirit filled, to which I replied I was. By this time, Sharon kept walking and was entering the store. Then she inquired as to how often I read the Bible or had prayer time. I was getting annoyed at this point, since the purpose of evangelism is not to pester the saved, but to save the lost.

When I stopped and sighed, she said, "Oh, that's it, isn't it? You are comfortable and need to have a relationship with Him. You need to get on fire for the Lord. I have been saved 31 years now and am as on fire today as the day I got saved. You need to do [thus and so]..." I attempted to discuss that issue with her, but she kept being rude and running over even the first two words out of my mouth. When I did get in any words, I attempted to let her know that she is sadly mistaken if she thinks that the measure of spirituality is how much you read the Bible or spend in prayer and that she is being extremely legalistic if she believes that if people do not spend as much time reading scripture as she deems we should, then we are somehow weak or lukewarm.

She quickly informed me that she is not under the law and is therefore not legalistic. I let her know right quick that she is a Pharisee if she is attempting to lay a standard on others to her liking. Of course, she came back with the obligatory quotes that if you are lukewarm (according to her definition, of course) then God would spew you out of His mouth, that we are to study to show ourselves approved, yadda, yadda, yadda. She said that I was going to miss "the rapture" if I was not on fire and basically that her prescription for a measure of fire intensity was appropriate.

I informed her that she just exemplified why so many people do not respond to her message, which she refuted. She just claimed that it was divine providence that she met me and was to warn me...all because I was not in agreement with her methodology and did not feel like being pestered. It is one thing to preach on the streets. I have done so. I also preached in prisons for several years. I have seen hundreds take decisions for Jesus. I have also seen many self righteous, pompous asses give their own prescriptions for the way to have a relationship with God. This ugly little lady, though I admire the fact that she is preaching the gospel to people, is unfortunately just one more self righteous individual that places her standards upon other people. If the others do not measure up to her, then they are less right in the sight of God and need to follow her example.

I feel bad that I was annoyed with this lady and that I felt the way I did about her appearance. However, I do not feel bad about my resisting her call to the way to being "rapture ready" or to a right relationship with God. As soon as I told her that I was a born again Christian, that should have ended all efforts of evangelism. Instead, she chose to be offensive, rude, and legalistic.

And people wonder why their efforts to win the lost are oft in vain. I forgot more scripture than this lady probably ever memorized. She has no idea what sort of study or prayer habits I have or the fellowship I have with my Lord or my fellow believers. She has no idea the topics of discussion I have with others nor the measure of walking out my faith I exemplify. I will applaud a non-charismaniac who gives to and ministers to the needs of those who have needs over someone who randomly uses the shotgun approach to evangelism and is obnoxious any day.

When I informed her that I was in the ministry for years and that she is not going to get away with perpetrating a false rhema upon me, since I have walked in that calling for years, she immediately shut down, got all the more defensive, and made the excuse that she had to go catch other people she saw on the street before she left in disgust.

Maybe I am wrong, but I doubt it.

A former classmate, a hero

I went to school with two brothers, Scott and Lee Dimond. We played football together, had classes together, and were involved with the local fire department together. Lee Dimond died years ago, I believe of an accidental drowning. His brother, Scott, became a local police officer. I had no idea that he had enlisted in the military. He was recently killed in Afghanistan by an explosive device. It was in today's Citizen. I am saddened to read this, but proud of my old friend. Here is a link to a video of a British journalist report of the bombing. He was traveling with the truck that hit the explosive.

Though I am not likely to vote for McCain, I love his perspective. Refreshing to hear.

The latest Palin parody actually is funny

AWESOME movie line from Bob Hope

So add me to the list of those being threatened

Boo frickity hoo. Yet more threats against people exercising free speech and pointing out facts about Obama.

Sen. Barack Obama is warning TV stations and asking the Justice Department to intervene in an attempt to block the airing of an ad by a non-profit group that links him to an unrepentant domestic terrorist.

The spot by the American Issues Project questions Obama's ties to William Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground organization who boasted of a series of bomb attacks at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol four decades ago.

So add me to the list of those you will threaten, Barack Hussein Obama. I have started to call my dog, Barack O-dog-a.

If you can't stand the heat, Obama, well, you know the rest. Just within the past few days, I have been called a "neocon" (pretty un-frickin' believable, if you know what constitutes being a neocon), been ripped into by ignorant people who rewrite history, and arrogant for pointing out the rewrite. Oh, well. If Obama has been hanging out with domestic terrorists, then it should come to light.

My honeymoon hideout

This place is mine for a week. I am not going to say where, but it is going to be my honeymoon hideout for a week. I am so looking forward to it, it isn't funny. Not only do I just want to get away for a while, but I am looking forward to having my new bride by my side. Thank you, Jesus.

Now that was funny.

From Ann Coulter:

This week, Barack Obama's challenge is to select a running mate who's young, hip, and whose accomplishments in life don't overshadow Obama's. Allow me to suggest Kevin Federline.

With all due respect to Ann Coulter, Federline did get to sleep with Britney Spears and make babies with her, so that seems to be more of a life accomplishment than Barack Obama has ever done.

Actual conversations with a 5 year old

I had two conversations with a five year old that just make me chuckle. If you have ever read the comic strip, "Calvin and Hobbes", you may remember some of the witty explanations given to Calvin by his father. I remember one in particular in which Calvin asked why some movies were in black and white. The father explained that at one time the entire world was black and white and eventually turned colored. I loved that particular strip. I often have the same sort of wit in talking to my five year old. These are actual conversations that took place within the last 24 hours.

John: Did I have breakfast yet?
Me: You don't know?
John: No.
Me: You mean you don't know whether or not you have eaten breakfast yet?
John: No.
Me: In that case, the answer is "Yes, you have".
John: Oh, OK.

And another one.

John: Mr. Troy, what is a pawn shop? (as we drove by the one in Selma)
Me: They sell chess pieces.
John: Oh.
John's grandmother, who was sitting beside me in the car: (hand over mouth) (snicker, snicker)