I was saddened to hear of Tony Snow's death yesterday morning as I woke.  Although I became interested in politics and history much too late to have been a fan of his radio show or of his Fox News Sunday work, I truly enjoyed watching him handle press briefings as the White House Press Secretary. 

 

He smoothly handled a difficult job and made it entertaining as well.  He never let the press put any sort of "media spin" on the issue at hand.  He was a straight shooter who could handle any effort to trip him up, but leave the room genuinely laughing with the press like old friends.  He was a true joy to watch in action.

 

He will be missed of course by his loving family but also by those of us who admired him from afar.   I doubt the White House will have such a top notch Press Secretary any time in the near future.  He was one of a kind.

 

 

 

 

 

"Senator McCain,

You have done nothing to warrant me giving you my trust.  Your "change with the wind" loyalties give me concern over your intentions regarding policy.  I feel it is in the best interest of this great country that you become President ONLY because you are SLIGHTLY less problematic than Senator Obama.  Your campaign and the RNC do not represent my conservative beliefs and it will be difficult enough to support you at the ballot box.  I will not and can not support you financially.  Begin by reconsidering your positions on issues such as:  free market economics, national sovereignty and illegal immigration, domestic oil supply and the "man-made" climate change farce and I may reconsider my position.

 

I am tired of hearing watered-down liberal philosophy and policy being offered by the "conservative" party.  Your campaign and the RNC have alienated those of us with core value beliefs by pandering to the noisiest relativists at the moment.  This reveals your weakness in leadership and a complete lack of a solid, ideological foundation.  Such characteristics are not trustworthy or beneficial to this country. 

 

I hope that the RNC comes to its senses before too much "progressive" damage is done to our Constitution, our sovereignty and our way of life.  It was not the "almighty Gallup poll" that made us the greatest country ever, it was obedience to the Almighty Creator God and His precepts that blessed us with freedom and liberty never known before.  It seems you have forgotten that and I pause to support such arrogance."

 

So true, So true.  Although Mr. Smith was an Anti-Federalist,  he speaks truth here.  It is deliberate, thought out reasoning that secures and retains liberty and freedom.  As he states just sentences earlier in this letter:

 

"It is natural for men, who wish to hasten the adoption of a measure, to tell us, now is the crisis-now is the critical moment which must be seized, or all will be lost: to shut the door against free enquiry, whenever conscious the thing presented has defects in it, which time and investigation will probably discover.  This has been the custom of tyrants and their dependants in all ages."

 

Friends, let us make sure that we take the time to use deliberate reason and thought when considering some of the major electoral issues that face us this presidential season (health care, climate change, terror, illegal immigration, etc).  Taking a few moments to really consider just what a candidate's "solution" to any of these issues would really mean in the long run can save us precious time and liberty down the line. 

 

We must stop accepting (either through ignorance or through indifference) the false premises of irresponsible, unthinking men.  When we debate them from the flawed foundation of their propaganda, we build on sinking sand and we miss an opportunity to demonstrate the reason and truth that we hold so dear.

"You cannot produce rational intuition by argument, because argument depends upon rational intuition." - C.S. Lewis

 

 

 

And in a world that denies absolutes, there can be no passing on of knowledge, because the entire concept of knowledge then becomes subjective; able to be conformed to the whim of the knowledge-giver.  Who is to say what is really "knowledge" and what is not?  The best we can offer is to assist people in "learning" how to be impressionable bowls of mush; automatons regurgitating what has been programmed into their systems.  The exercising of the God-given gift of reasoning is stunted, numbed, cut off to wither away into nothing.

This is what is so disturbing to me about the world today.  In fact, I don't know what is more disturbing a) that people don't realize that they are letting their sense of reason die off or b) that they just don't care to do the work to fine tune it.  Either way, does it really matter which is worse?  They both lead to the same dismal destination:  tyranny and enslavement.  And there is nobody to blame but ourselves.

 

 

 

Well, it is true....I actually had the thought and verbalized it yesterday:  I think I hope that Hillary Clinton wins the 2008 Presidential Election.  (Although it looks extremely iffy whether she will even make it that far -- I haven't picked a winner yet this election season -- I stubbornly refuse to accept that Fred isn't still in the race!)

 

It seems like ages ago that she was the scariest prospect for the Presidency.  Now, it seems like she is the one who could do the least amount of damage -which is a relative comparison because they all three will do EXTENSIVE damage.  (By the way, can I just say that I am SO tired of being left with no other choice than to vote for the one who will "do the least amount of damage.")

 

I think of it this way:

 

Barack Obama is totally unknown.  Oh sure, we can see the liberal and socialist leanings in what he says and proposes, but with such little time on the political scene, has he truly shown us what we would be in for?  It is like voting for the Wizard of Oz.  You vote for the Wizard but get the man behind the curtain.   And in this case, we don't even have the plus of liking what we do know about him or think we know.  At least the people in the Land of Oz referred to the Wizard as "Great" and "Wonderful". 

 

John McCain is more like a political windsock.  You just don't know which way he will go each day.  Appearing to be completely void of any sort of moral, ethical or ideological base, he is the ultimate pragmatist in this race.  Even more so than his opponents; At least they give the impression they really believe in what they are offering the nation.  (And this is especially true in Barack Obama's case as he is younger and more likely to have been affected by a liberalized educational system than Hillary.) John McCain to me is insincere, unconvincing and condescending.  He will do more damage to the conservative brand than good.  And "goes with the flow" is NOT a character trait I look for in a President.

 

That leaves us with Hillary.  While she is obviously dangerous with regard to the policy changes she wishes to make, she is the candidate who represents best the terms of "what you see is what you get."  And in the game of "the lesser of two evils", I think she wins.  She will not only undoubtedly mess up in the Oval Office, but she will take down the liberal Democrat party brand with her.  We know exactly what she will bring to the White House so we can cover our eyes and ears, stuff our savings into the mattress and commit to surviving the next four years looking toward the hope and bright light of redemption shining just over the next electoral horizon.  (Those of us who voted for Bret Schundler in NJ but hunkered down under two years of the McGreevey term know what I am talking about.  We experienced such redemption when he suddenly packed his bag and exited Drumthwacket post haste. We told you so!)

 

So, Obama, McCain or Clinton.  The End of Days must be upon us because I am going Clinton on this one.  May God help us all.

Am I the only one out here that is sick of everything being "green?"  I can't be.  There have to be more of you out there.  But I wonder, how many?  Obviously there are enough that literally "buy" into this concept that it has been considered a smart marketing choice to make everything from appliances to zithers "green" and "environmentally friendly." 

 

Although this is going to sound like a disclaimer, it's not.  I believe in good stewardship of what God has gifted us with, but I reject the premise that being a good steward is the same as "going green."  It is almost an involuntary reaction by now that everytime I hear that phrase "go green" in any of its forms, I recoil in disgust.  Once again our mind numb society has grasped onto a similarly mind numbing catch phrase of the month, year, decade etc. 

 

How is it that the only pre-requisite for "common sense" is "common repetition?"  It seems that the more a phrase is repeated, the more it becomes accepted as a truth.  Friends, this is where "reason and free inquiry" come in.  Those of us out here in the world who have come to know truth because we have weeded out the false must continue to rely on these important tools when dealing with those around us who have either willingly or unwittingly fallen victim to this social brainwashing via trendy taglines.

 

So friends, I introduce my own trendy tagline for submission:  "intelligence friendly" (shortened versions such as "intelli-friendly" are acceptable.)  Be kind to those less fortunate in the area of grey matter.  "Go grey" on them and pass on some of that "reason and free inquiry" you have worked so hard to fine tune. 

 

Until next time.....

Hello all out there in the brave new world of blogging!  I am COMPLETELY new to this game, so I ask for your patience as I learn to navigate this new realm.

 

Figured I would start with a post letting you all know a bit about me.  I am a stay at home mom of two beautiful little girls and the wife of a wonderful husband.  Ok, before you all start switching over to the next blog page, just hang on.  It gets less mushy from here.

 

Mostly I decided to start a blog because it seems to be the only outlet I have for sharing the steady stream of fantabulous thoughts I have on what is going on in this crazy mixed up world of ours.  I have already talked my husband and family deaf, so why not find some new victims, right? 

 

So, I have succumbed to the technological world of blogging in order to satiate my desire for intelligent discussion regarding world issues, politics, history, religion, apologetics, etc. 

 

Just as a little background note, I chose the title of my blog from something  I have been recently reading up on:  the correspondence and documents written prior to and during the formation of our country's Constitution.  It is important to understand what our founding documents say but it is just as important, if not more important, to understand the thought, discussion and debate that went into forming them. 

 

"Reason & Free Inquiry" comes from a line in Thomas Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia":  "Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.  Give loose to them, they will support the true religion by bringing every false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigation.  They are the natural enemies of error, and of error only."

 

While Jefferson specifically mentions religion here, his point is pertinent to all aspects of life.  Truth can stand up to reason and free inquiry no matter what the discussion.  In a world that seem to be lacking reason and quickly losing the ability to inquire freely, I embark on the experience of blogging in hopes of keeping these two seemingly "lost arts" alive and well.