The Guns of Obamerica

The Guns of Obamerica 
This is a good read.  It is a bit long, but worth taking the time to read it.

This was sad to hear on the radio this afternoon

From WTSB Radio's web site:

County Commissioner Wade Stewart Dies

Johnston County Commissioner Wade Stewart passed away suddenly Monday morning at his home near Four Oaks.  Stewart was hospitalized last week after suffering a heart attack, family members said.  He returned home from the hospital just a few days ago.

Stewart was sworn in as a Commissioner in December 1998, representing District 3. He won reelection to his fourth term in 2010, which was scheduled to have expired in 2014.

Stewart was President of Keener Lumber Company. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Campbell University in 1966.

He was very active in public service, with a passion for serving citizens, emergency workers, veterans, and building schools for the children of Johnston County. He loved his family, helping people, and the game of baseball.


In a statement from Jeff Carver, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners he said, “Our entire Board and staff are mourning the loss along with his wife and family.”
“Commissioner Stewart was a bronze-star recipient in Vietnam who never shied away from a fight.  During the financial crisis, he was the Chairman that led with great foresight and was not afraid to make tough decisions.  Mr. Stewart had a significant impact on Johnston County and a genuine love for the citizens.  “
“He loved his family and spoke of them often…they should be proud of his dedication and service to the citizens of Johnston County,” he said.
“During his continuous service to the County people respected his opinion, including myself.  He was not only a fellow commissioner, but my personal friend and confidant and I will never forget him,” Chairman Carver said.

“Wade had great passion for the County and he was one of the hardest working Commissioners I have ever known,” Commissioner Tony Braswell told WTSB. “He was special to me. He was a mentor to me. We bonded because of that and our Vietnam experience.” Both Stewart and Braswell were Vietnam Veterans.

"Sometimes he expressed things only the way Wade could do,” Braswell said. “He will go down as one of the greater commissioners. His legacy will be remembered in the school building era for a long long time.”

"He was a strong advocate for Veterans. He started the Family Veterans Advisory Committee when he was Board Chairman. He felt like the County should do all we could for Veterans,” Braswell added.

Stewart was currently serving on the Juvenile Crimes Prevention Council, Nursing Home/Adult Care Advisory Board, Tobacco Farm Life Museum, and Veterans Service Advisory Board. 

Stewart was Chairman of the Board of Commissioners from 2008 to 2010.  He served as Vice Chairman from 2004 to 2008.  He had previously served on the Criminal Justice Partnership Advisory Board, Social Services Board, Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee, and Local Emergency Planning Commission.

"Wade Stewart was a fine man. I learned so much from him," Johnston County Manager Rick Hester said Monday. "He enjoyed being a county commissioner, because he loved helping people. I will miss him greatly."

"Johnston County has lost a great Commissioner who was truly dedicated to serving others," Commissioner Cookie Pope said Monday. "Like John Wayne, he was a giant of a man whose love for "country store" politics made him a champion of the ordinary man.  Doing for others was one of his greatest joys and no request was too small."

"Wade Stewart loved nothing more than a challenge so he could prepare for the battle that he fully intended to win," Pope said. "No man ever loved his family, friends and County more. What a legacy!"
Funeral services will be held at 3:00pm on Thursday, January 17 at First Baptist Church in Four Oaks. Burial will follow in the Four Oaks City Cemetery with full military honors. Visitation will be held Wednesday, January 16 from 6:00pm until 9:00pm at Rose & Graham Funeral Home in Four Oaks.

Here is the N&O article. 
The Smithfield Herald article.
The WRAL story
Though News 14 has the story on their broadcast, it isn't online. 

Dealing with LIBTARDS

This was my TV show for this evening.

Johnston County School Board bans distribution of literature such as the Gideons New Testament and other stuff

I had already commented on this once.  I just hope that they do it CONSISTENTLY across the board.  I am tired of circus ticket coupons and restaurant fliers coming home with my son's school notebook but somehow a Gideon's New Testament is objectionable.  The ACLU SUCKS.  Seldom do I agree with them.

From WTSB:

School Board Approves Controversial Policy
Johnston County school board members on Tuesday deliberated for over an hour before voting 5 to 2 to approve a controversial policy, which limits non-school related materials on school grounds.

School Board Chairman Larry Strickland and Board Member Donna White voted against it.

Superintendent Ed Croom (pictured right) said, for years, Johnston County Schools has allowed organizations like Gideons International to visit campuses and distribute New Testaments and other religious literature.

But Croom said that last year a couple of groups approached him with material, which he deemed inappropriate for students.

"It was stuff I didn't want my son to see, to have the opportunity to see," Croom said.

Croom said an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union told him that if the school system allows one group, such as the Gideons on its campuses, then it must allow all groups.

"I know this doesn't bode well in the Bible Belt and Johnston County," Croom said. "But we can't differentiate any one group over another."

School Board Attorney Jimmy Lawrence (pictured left) agreed. He and Deputy Superintendent Ross Renfrow fielded questions from school board members.

In May, Lawrence said the school board received a letter co-signed by representatives of the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

"We had the ACLU wanting to know where we were regarding this policy," Lawrence said.

School Board member Keith Branch said that, in making this decision, they had Johnston County students' best interest at heart.

"If we knowingly open ourselves up to litigation, we're not acting in the best interests of Johnston County Schools," Branch said.

School Board Member Butler Hall said this issue had been very disturbing to him because of his religious beliefs.
"I've spent a great of time struggling with this policy," Hall said. But he said school officials had received requests to distribute literature, which he described as "blasphemous."

White differed with her colleagues. She said, "Johnston County is a faith-based community and we need to take risks for what's right.”

"This policy will have a domino effect on our schools," White said. "Whatever the outcome of this vote, I won't be part of this domino effect."

School Board Member Peggy Smith said she and her colleagues took an oath to defend the Constitution.

"We can't promote religion. We have a Christian society but its’ churches and parents who have the responsibility to carry on the fight," Smith said.

Will Johnston County Make Exceptions?
Before Johnston County school board members adopted a policy limiting the display of non-school related materials, they briefly discussed regulations, which allow annual after school events in which different community groups, including religious groups, can distribute literature on high school campuses.

School Board Attorney Jimmy Lawrence said Buncombe County has adopted a similar regulation.

The Buncombe County regulation allows high schools to sponsor "community information events" to provide organizations an opportunity to share informational material about the services they provide.

Buncombe County prohibits groups from distributing “vulgar, indecent or obscene” material, materials that contain personal attacks, encourage students to commit illegal acts “or acts that violate school rules,” or promote “unhealthy or illegal activities by children, such as tobacco or alcohol use."

Your tax dollars hard at work

I read an article within the past few weeks on the Johnston County Area Transportation System (JCATS). I lamented the possible expansion of tax dollars to further subsidize the poor.  I asked the question, "When is enough, enough?"  I made it into a TV show for "LaPlante's Rants".



Yesterday I saw a news story from WTSB Radio about JCATS getting a matching grant.  More subsidies for the poor at the expense of the producers.  We can't afford this!

County Approves JCATS Grant Match
Area transit system receives $74,556 in local funds

Johnston County Commissioners approved a $74,556 matching grant for the Johnston County Area Transit System.

JCATS Transportation Director Lynn Lamberth requested the funds at Monday's commission meeting.

The total grant from the state Department of Transportation is $598,556. It's the major administrative and capital grant with which JCATS operates.

JCATS' transportation services include medical trips in county and to destinations out of county, workplace and job training, senior centers, child care centers, social services, public hearings and dental care.

Lamberth told commissioners that JCATS provided 110,000 rides last year and that their vehicles traveled over 1 million miles.

She said JCATS provides quite a bit of transportation for Johnston Community College and would love to contract with JCC for additional services.

The truth about Piers Morgan's gun control and violence claims

FOX19.com-Cincinnati News, Weather

An ignorant fool or media whore?

So, the mayor of Morrisville, NC wants their new Gander Mountain store (which I love) to stop selling semi-automatic rifles.  This is pursuant to the recent shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  I guess she missed the story that said that the Bushmaster .223 AR15 rifle was in the trunk of the car and was never actually used in the shooting.

It's no secret that I am a gun enthusiast and a fan of Gander Mountain, for the most part.  I have bought camping supplies and ammunition from them and the new store in Morrisville has a 9mm pistol I have been eyeballing at a decent price.

Sadly, people like Jackie Holcombe are well intentioned but are extremely ignorant about what constitutes an assault weapon, about firearms in general, and fail to acknowledge that it is PEOPLE who do violence, not the tool itself.  If this is not the case, perhaps the mayor is simply looking for some public attention.  My AR15 has never shot anything that I have not aimed at and pulled the trigger.

Here is the story.

Does this sound familiar?

With all the cries for gun control by the government and by ignorant citizens, it is excellent to look to the past to find that this is nothing new.  Take this quote from George Mason, for instance. 

"When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man [Sir William Keith], who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually, by totally disusing and neglecting the militia."

– George Mason, speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 14, 1788

Nice project, still not sure I am on board with their message

I can disagree with a group of people and still be on friendly terms with them.  I try to keep a good relationship with some of the people at NC Stop Torture Now, though I have absolutely zero problem with putting old Abdul on a waterboard if it will save American lives.  Also, I am not so sure of the allegations against Aero Contractors out of our local airport.  Furthermore, I doubt seriously that picketing or petitioning the local County Board of Commissioners will do any good.

As a result of maintaining good will with some of their folks, a film maker in the state has asked me for an interview for a documentary on the whole Aero Contractors thing.  We have talked via email but not set a date yet for an interview.

I was invited via Facebook the morning of the clean up by Stop Torture Now, but was not available to help.  Quite honestly, I wouldn't have gone anyway, considering I am not really interested in furthering their cause.  I did find it hilarious that they managed to adopt the highway near the airport, though.  Well played, Stop Torture Now.  I liked that.

From WTSB:

NC Stop Torture Now Continues Protest
A group called NC Stop Torture Now has adopted a two mile stretch of Swift Creek Road, in front of the Johnston County Airport, for the NC Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway program.  The signs went up just before Christmas. The NC Stop Torture Now organization held their first roadside cleanup of litter on Saturday and used the occasion to draw attention to Aero Contractors. 

Organizers of the event held up signs for motorists to see. The group claims Aero Contractors is a CIA-affiliated aviation company that helps secretly transport detainees to overseas prisons where interrogation through the use of torture is not illegal. 

Allyson Caison, a resident of Selma, is a leader of NC Stop Torture Now. “The CIA and other government agencies can’t hide that they’ve used Johnston County for a global program of enforced disappearance and torture."

“Torture has stained Johnston County and North Carolina,” Caison said.  “It’s been well documented, and other countries are taking responsibility.  Why can’t we?”

About two dozen people turned out Saturday for the event. Participants say they will return in a few months to continue to bring attention to the company.  Aero Contractors has never publicly commented on the group's allegations.  Photo by Carter Rabil

I know it's been a long time

I have not been blogging much at all over the past five years.  There have been a lot of life changes over the past five or six years.  I have been through a dissolution of marriage, remarriage, and having three children come into my life.  I have stuck by my same job for eighteen years now, but gone through a lot of changes with technology.  I have gone through changes in Church fellowship and friends.  I got a TV talk show, then it got canceled after a six or seven month run.  My newspaper column was canceled after a six year run.  I now do a recorded short TV commentary each week that I also put on YouTube.

Overall, I truly lost me passion for blogging.  Sure, I still have opinions and enjoy media work.  I have just put my priorities in other directions.  With a 9-year-old, 3-year-old, and now a 9-month-old, I have been kept extremely busy.

I have known for a long time that I had to revamp my blog.  I just haven't done it.  I am not so sure I even like my blog's template.  I just chose something to use for now until I decide to take the time to invest more time.

I have put most of my links, commentary, and interaction on Facebook rather than blogging it.  I may change that concept.  If I blog things then share them on Facebook, at least I may get more blog hits and some revenue out of it.  I dunno.

Will Johnston County Schools Ban Gideons?

Will Johnston County Schools Ban Gideons?

Proposed policy will prohibit group from distributing Bibles on school campuses
 
For generations, Gideons International has distributed New Testaments at Johnston County Schools. If a new school board policy is passed, that era is over.

The Board of Education, at its Tuesday meeting, is scheduled to vote on a policy regarding the distribution and display of non-school materials.

Johnston County Schools spokesperson Tracey Peedin Jones confirmed the new policy will affect the Gideons.
"If this new policy passes," Jones said, "the Gideons will not be able to distribute Bibles."

Jones said no school policy exists directly related to the distribution of literature by outside agencies.

The Board has been utilizing case law and Supreme Court rulings in making decisions.
"At this point, Jones said, "the Board believes that the school system needs to implement their own policy that complies with the latest mandates of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court."

The proposed policy states, "Only school-sponsored and curriculum-related publications and materials may be distributed or displayed during the school day, on school grounds or at school activities."
At least one area pastor expressed disappointment in the proposed policy.
"Having worked with the Gideons all my life I am aware that it is becoming more and more difficult for them to get into our schools," Micro First Baptist Church Pastor Tim Stevens said.

“It would certainly be sad if at the same time that the Gideons are finding new opportunities in Russia and China to distribute Bibles they were excluded from doing so in our own public school system,” Rev. Stevens said.

---------

Troy's commentary:  If the policy passes, I hope that ALL such stuff will be stopped.  We get constant coupons for circuses, restaurants, fliers, and marketing materials that come home with our son THROUGH THE SCHOOL.  I find these items far more offensive than a Gideon's New Testament.

UPDATE: The Johnston County Superintendent of Schools has said that this was in response to the ACLU making a stink about an agnostic group that was denied access to the schools to pass out their literature. Basically, the school system, rather than standing up to them, wants to knuckle under to their pressure.

MORE NEWS COVERAGE: NBC17

Welcome, Benjamin

Benjamin Edward LaPlante was born April 10, 2012 at 2:17 PM.  He weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.  Mother and son are now both home and are doing well.  Welcome to the world, "Ben Ben", as his big brother, Matthew calls him.  It is so cute, since he can't say Benjamin yet and it comes out Ben Ben.  His middle name is in honor of my brother, Ed, who died in September of 2009.

Early resurrection morning thoughts

I was woken up by a coughing fit (I think that my bronchitis is coming back) and laid awake for a while thinking about my next newspaper column and TV commentary.  Yeah, I write those things in my head several times before ever typing them out. I figured since I was up and needed my inhaler, which was at my desk, I would sit and check online stuff. The whole time I have been thinking about the impending birth of Benjamin, whose due date is just over a week away.  I kept thinking about God's love, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and how he loved me enough to give his daughter to me and entrust me with my family.  This picture was taken on our wedding day and is perhaps my favorite ever of Sharon and John Dolan.  Matthew was conceived the next day, and now baby Ben is almost here.  What an amazing journey it has been to have gotten here.  John has grown so much since this photo.  Lord, may I become the man you want me to be, the father I need to become, the husband I desire to be, and the son you have re-created me to be.  Thank you, Father God, for your grace, your love, your patience, your mercy, and your salvation through Christ, my risen Lord.

A recent picture of my lovely bride and me.

You probably can't tell, but she is over four months pregnant in this picture.

The next addition countdown

Remembering Sept. 11th

With the upcoming 10 year anniversary of Sept. 11th, I am sharing this photo. I found it shortly after the events of 9/11 and kept it. It is an artist's rendering of what the rebuild World Trade Center should look like. I am in full agreement. It sends a message to the ones who perpetrated the act. We are still here.

Finally, a legislator with a spine

Finally, a legislator in North Carolina is standing up to the NAACP. Here is a story in which Stephen LaRoque had the guts to stand up against the racism of the NAACP and William Barber, its state president.

Raleigh, N.C. — An eastern North Carolina lawmaker is standing behind his characterization of the NAACP and its state president as racist.

Rep. Stephen LaRoque, R-Lenoir, sent a May 14 e-mail to the NAACP, which had issued an announcement the previous day about a Greenville news conference to protest budget cuts proposed by Republican lawmakers.

"I have no interest in receiving anything from a Racist such as William Barber," LaRoque wrote in the e-mail, referring to the state president for the NAACP. "He and the NC NAACP represent everything that is wrong with race relations in our state and country. You should be ashamed of yourself for continuing to promote racism but that is the modern day legacy of the NAACP as a racist organization led by Racist individuals who are Cowards."

Barber said Friday that he was shocked by the comments, but LaRoque said he has no intention on backing off.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger neither condoned or condemned LaRoque's statement when asked about it, but he said his colleague could have expressed his feelings without resorting to name-calling.

"I think many times people will talk about particular issues, and they probably articulate themselves in ways that are not helpful to the overall discussion. I would say that fits within that characterization," Berger said.

I wrote Mr. LaRoque and said the following:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: THANK YOU for showing the courage!
Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 16:30:01 -0400
From: Troy LaPlante
To: Stephen.LaRoque@ncleg.net

Thank you for showing enough courage to stand up against William Barber
and the NAACP. Racism is wrong, regardless of from whom it comes.
Barber is a race pimp who constantly incites racist views in order to
keep his job. Nothing will satisfy him on any topic as long as he can
find a way to come up with an angle that enables him to stir up racism.

I am not from your district (I am from Johnston County), but I am proud
of you for having the spine to take a stand. I wish that there were
more like you in the NC Legislature.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/9653960/ is the story I
read about you and I have shared it all over my web presence.

Why not email Mr. LaRoque to thank and encourage him, as well?

I found this worth sharing.

Federal taxation

From Federalist Paper #31

Revenue is as requisite to the purposes of the local administrations as to those of the Union; and the former are at least of equal importance with the latter to the happiness of the people. It is, therefore, as necessary that the State governments should be able to command the means of supplying their wants, as that the national government should possess the like faculty in respect to the wants of the Union.

But an indefinite power of taxation in the latter might, and probably would in time, deprive the former of the means of providing for their own necessities; and would subject them entirely to the mercy of the national legislature.

– written by Alexander Hamilton and published in the New York Packet on Tuesday, January 1, 1788.

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can

John Randolph on the 2nd Amendment

John Randolph in a letter to St. George Tucker on what would become the the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, 11 September 1789

"A majority of the Senate for not allowing the militia arms & if two thirds had agreed it would have been an amendment to the Constitution. They are afraid that the Citizens will stop their full Career to Tyranny & Oppression."

Basically, career politicians wanted to limit the right of the people to have guns out of fear that they would overthrow them from power or whack them.

Wedding photos from almost two years ago now.

Click here to view this photo book larger

My news story about social media on WRAL TV

The case for which I had jury duty.

For the second time in two years, I got tagged for jury duty. Last week I spent Monday and Tuesday at the court house while a jury was picked for a criminal case. I never did get chosen since all 12 plus an alternate were seated before I got called from the jury pool. I found the case disposition online today.

DA's Office Convicts Two Habitual Felons
Both Defendants Found Guilty Of Eluding Deputies
A Johnston County man was sentenced to 80 to 105 months in jail on Wednesday after being found guilty by a Johnston County jury of speeding to elude arrest during a chase with Johnston County deputies. Jimmie Wayne Banks attempted to avoid a traffic stop by Deputy David Hildreth. Banks drover his car at a high rate of speed several times around a CVS Pharmacy parking then onto Highway 42 and Cleveland School Road before crashing and overturning his car. Banks had previous convictions for felony possession of cocaine and felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury.

Jihad Watch director offers an update on Islamist terror

No First Amendment right in Smithfield?

From WTSB Radio's news page. Though I disagree with the proposed boycott, punishing business owners for the stupidity of a town, I do certainly agree that the right to peacefully assemble was abridged. Granted the right was squashed by a municipality, not Congress. The First Amendment states:

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.

Police Shut Down Patriots Day 9-11 Rally On Courthouse Steps
Event Organizers Plan Boycott Of Smithfield Businesses

Organizers of a peaceful 9-11 “Patriots Day Tea Party” were shut down by Smithfield Police Friday afternoon. About 45 minutes after the event began on the Johnston County Courthouse steps, two Smithfield Police Officers arrived and told spectators the event was being held without a town permit and could not continue.

Birma Stemler, who spearheaded the Smithfield Patriots Day gathering, said she had been planning the event for four months and had been told by Smithfield Planning Director Paul Embler she did not need a permit. Later, Stemler claims Embler changed his mind in late-August, and said she would need Smithfield Town Council approval because a public address (PA) system would be used, but would have to wait to appear before the board in October. Stemler said October was too late for a 9-11 rally. As a courtesy, Stemler said she told a police lieutenant weeks ago about the rally.

Stemler did appear before Johnston County Commissioners on August 3, and was given permission by County Commissioners to hold the 9-11 event. According to minutes of the meeting, County Manager Rick Hester told Stemler he had no issues with a PA system but he wanted to make sure it would not disturb the court system that may be in session. In response, Stemler moved the timing of the event until after 5pm.

About 140 adults in attendance were shocked when police told them the event was not authorized by the Town of Smithfield. To protest the forceful police action, the group said they would boycott Smithfield businesses in response to the town’s decision to prevent them from holding a peaceful assembly on public property. “I was told I could do this and there would be no problems,” Stemler told WTSB News. “The officer argued with me, but did say I would not be arrested.”

Officer D.A. Tyndall was asked by a WTSB reporter, who sent the officers to the 9-11 gathering. He replied, “The police department.” When asked again, who specifically at the police department sent him he again replied, “The police department.”

Town Councilman Andy Moore, who was not present at the event, said he did not want anyone boycotting Smithfield businesses based on the actions of police. “I will be talking with the city manager to see what went on and to see if we can work something out,” Moore told WTSB. “Obviously I would not want anybody boycotting Smithfield businesses, especially during the touch economic conditions that we have.”

Chris Johnson, Executive Director of the Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation, who has overseen the revitalization of the downtown business district, said the thoughts of a boycott makes him cringe, but said he hopes cooler heads will prevail. “Hopefully an amicable solution will be reached.” Johnson said the 9-11 event the group was trying to rally around would not occur for another year, and said he hoped it was a big misunderstanding. “We ask that any citizen, not just this group, that has any problem with an elected official or city government, they would not take it out on the small independent businesses that are struggling in this economy.” Reached Friday night, Stemler said plans for the boycott still stand. She hopes others will join in the efforts to let town officials know the groups rights to assemble peacefully - protected in the US Constitution - were denied. One citizen said a lawsuit might be considered. WTSB Photos

Cue the Queen song

I am trying my best to keep down my lunch and not blow chunks all over my keyboard and monitor. I try not to be disrespectful of the dead, but when debauchery filled men are lifted up as paragons of virtue, I have a problem with that.

The death of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts is of course tragic for him and his family. I do not wish a death upon anyone, especially by brain cancer. I actually had compassion for Mr. Kennedy, since I could not imagine having brothers of mine assassinated as he did.

I have met and even exchanged brief words with Ted Kennedy, but I did not know him personally. I have, however, followed him politically for years. I do believe that he was perhaps the most powerful Kennedy of the bunch, considering his length of tenure in office and continuous Senatorial powers and influence.

His death was not unexpected. I quickly found the news of his passing in my morning news read. I found all sorts of flowery praise for his years of service, his compassion, his vision for our country, etc. I also found his detractors discussing Chappaquiddick some 40 years after the fact and his liberal record in the Senate.

Here is what I find extraordinary. When Senator Jesse Helms died, I heard quite a bit of rancor from his liberal detractors. There was a lot of hateful, spiteful commentary in the media and from his haters. People rejoiced at his death. Pundits swooned with glee. These same pundits are attacking anyone who now would criticize Helms' archetype in Ted Kennedy.

Today, I have been reading comments from different people I know online. Yes, I have some liberal leaning friends. I read things such as "God bless the Kennedys", "[God] will call a Kennedy home but he'll leave a Barack Obama to insure the vision is alive", and "the legacy [Kennedy] leaves is one of service and compassion for his fellow man."

I will admit that Kennedy had a long history of public service. I doubt he had a private sector job in his entire life. My commentary about blessing the Kennedy family is that I, too, wish blessings upon them. First, understand what the very first blessing is, and then you will understand my blessing prayer. At the end of the Book of Acts, chapter 3, Peter was preaching and said " Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." It is my honest prayer that an entire family who has never known Christ repents and comes to know Him, thereby finding eternal life.

I seriously doubt that Ted Kennedy is resting in peace as I am typing this. He led a life of drunkenness, debauchery, adultery, and deceit. I compare this to Senator Helms who was a born again Christian. Helms received scorn at his death from a sinful world, Kennedy is getting praise.

Just since I started typing away on this column, I have gotten personal messages from acquaintances touting Kennedy's accomplishments in the areas of civil rights and the passage of the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution. Actually, it was probably more the influence of Richard Nixon that helped in that regard.

There were some things Kennedy supported that I agreed with, but those constitute the minority of his voting record. I am looking at a long list of his major votes in Congress. The vast majority are laws for which no Senator should have ever voted, simply because they were unconstitutional, not to mention often immoral and/or just plain bad fiscal policy. We Americans are going to be paying dearly for the havoc inflicted by politicians like Ted Kennedy for years to come.

Here is the struggle I have when people like Ted Kennedy die. I wish to be respectful, but I also weigh principles such as Jeremiah 12:1 "Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" Again, with Proverbs 11:10 "When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting."

Yes, I really do struggle with these. And I miss Jesse Helms.

Hitler on Obamacare

This was just too funny to not share. It is a bit crude, but hilarity will ensue.

The brothers

John, age 6. Matthew, age 3 weeks.
Photo taken 8/2/09

More pictures of Troy Matthew, Jr.

Matthew is almost 3 weeks old now.