Senin, 07 November 2011

Clipping blog

Clipping blog

The Delivery Presents – So, You Want to Be A Star?

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 06:30 AM PST

What can I say about Episode 119 but that the world is flat-out nuts and I’m glad for it because if it was sane, I wouldn’t have a show. A couple in Hawaii lost their child for a night over a chicken salad sandwich and some well-regarded MSM reporter drooled lustily all over Barack Obama (thankfully, not in person). The latter isn’t quite as rare an event as you might imagine, if you still believe the media consider themselves in an adversarial relationship with the government. Fortunately, I am here to speak truth to power, or whatever hip revolutionaries do these days.

I did run one of the first half topics into the second half. That Barack Obama column was just that funny.

Oh, I also spent a Saturday playing Social Media Guru and has a really good time while doing it. You know, I could get used to doing something a lot like that for a living. Do you hear that, organizations that need a savvy and enthusiastic social media guy? That took up the rest of the second half, along with a few thoughts about being a star. That’s where the football came into the conversation, but don’t despair if you don’t like sports. You will, I think, like what I had to say.

The Delivery - Episode 119

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Clearing the Browser Tabs – Government Opacity Alert Monday Edition

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 06:10 AM PST

We’ve found more guns “walked” by the administration as part of Operation Fast and Furious (via memeorandum). Police seized two of over 2,000 missing weapons from a couple members of the Sinaloa cartel right here in the United States. By anyone’s best estimate, we’re still missing about 1,500 guns. That number would be a lot more certain if the Obama administration would come clean on how many guns they gave to the drug cartels.

While I’m on the whole “coming clean” subject, the administration last week refused to honor a Congressional subpoena for documents related to SolyndraScam. The White House said the subpoena was “unprecedented and unnecessary” and questioned the committee’s sincerity to get to the bottom of the scandal (both links via memeorandum). Perhaps the President doesn’t want Congress to know how much they knew about the lavish bonuses given to Solyndra executives even as the company was headed down the drain along with over $500 million dollars of our money. Folks, I’ve seen government transparency. This isn’t it.

But let me go back to Fast and Furious for a moment. The MSM has done quite a lot to try to bury the story under a mount of misinformation. Take this headline from a CNN story as an example: “‘Fast and Furious’ flap likely to linger”. You can use a lot of words to describe an operation that sent some 2,000 guns out of the sight of law enforcement officials, but “flap” isn’t one of them. This is either lazy or deceptive reporting. I can’t tell you which is the case but I know we shouldn’t condone it.

And now, links!

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Who Would Jesus Protest?

Posted: 06 Nov 2011 08:13 PM PST

Want a quick test to see if someone knows the Bible? Ask them if Jesus would be out protesting at Occupy Wall Street (#OWS) today. The contention from some religious authorities and media outlets is that Jesus would be right there among the unwashed masses clamoring for free college tuition and a unicorn in every backyard.

That is simply not true.

Jesus cared not one whit about government except insofar as its officials abused their positions to assume positions of religious power. Even then, Jesus didn’t call out the Pharisees for their abuses of secular power but for how they used their power to mislead the people on spiritual matters. Jesus’ famous “Render unto Caesar…” comment was both an utter refusal to play the political game and a reminder to his followers of his true mission. Jesus did not come to Earth to bring political revolution, but spiritual.

When Jesus chased the moneylenders our of the temple, he didn’t do so because they lent money but because they corrupted His Father’s house. Here is the account, from John 2:13-16.

And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

Again (though some scholars believe this and the accounts in the other two gospels describe a second incident), from Luke 19:45-48:

And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Let me toss in a few questions at this point. If Jesus truly detested the moneylenders, why didn’t he continue to pursue them all the way to their places of business? Why didn’t he gather his followers — a considerable number, by the way, since this incident happened right after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem — and protest outside the exchange houses? In short, if Jesus was angry at the moneylenders for their predatory usury practices, why didn’t he #OccupyJerusalem?

He didn’t, because that wasn’t his goal. It’s not the goal of the Bible either to build large government institutions to advance social equality or “social justice”. There is, in fact, no Biblical basis for government-based charity for the poor. Every instance of charity you see in the Bible involves individuals or the church. Remember, when Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions, he did not tell him to give the money to the government but directly to the poor.

Further, Jesus specifically endorsed profit with the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. In the parable, a rich man gave money to three of his servants — 5 talents to one servant, 2 to the second, and 1 to the third — and went out of town. When he returned, he demanded an accounting from his servants. The servant with five talents had invested it and made five more. His master was pleased and rewarded him. Likewise the servant who was given two talents made two more and was also rewarded. The third servant, however,  took his one talent and buried it. He did not lose it, but he did not increase it either. What happened to that servant? His boss called him “wicked and slothful”, took away his money and gave it to the servant who has earned the most. The lesson from Jesus? Those who have will get more and have abundance. Those who have not, and make not, will have theirs taken away. Note that Jesus did not condemn the rich man for rewarding his profitable servants and punishing the unprofitable one. On the contrary. He even had the rich man scold the unprofitable servant for not giving that one talent to the moneylenders so that when he returned, he could have at least gotten his talent back with profit from the interest.

Again, Jesus did not take a choice opportunity to condemn profit-making, even the rather harsh methods used by moneylenders of his day.

But did Jesus talk about government? Not directly, though he did provide a model for how a person should conduct themselfes. In Mark 10:42, Jesus specifically pointed out earthly authorities who “excercise lordship” over those they governed. In the following verses (43-44) Jesus then turned that model upside-down and said that the greatest in his spiritual hierarchy must serve all. In other words, Jesus eschewed those who exercised power and told his followers that the “great” should “minister” to those under them. Is this a specific statement about government? No as such, but Christians used it as a model for representative democracy.

So if Jesus didn’t eschew profit, can we find some passage where the Bible does have something we can apply what has happened on Wall Street and elsewhere these last few weeks? As it happens, it does. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessolanica: “…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.” Disorderly? Working not at all? Busybodies? Sure sounds like the Occupy Whatever protesters to me.

Throughout Jesus ministry he taught each of us to give as we have received, but never, ever to demand what we have not earned. That is a worthwhile lesson for all of us, but it is not one that we can compel by governmental force or mob rule.

Note: This originally appeared as a “Twitter rant” on Saturday. A couple folks suggested I expand it a bit into a blog post. You can read the original tweets in sequence right here on Storify.

 

Hey Hey! Ho Ho! Let’s Push An Old Woman Down Some Stairs!

Posted: 06 Nov 2011 03:40 PM PST

I have run out of adjectives to describe the Occupy Whatever movement. They are a collection of uncontrollable mobs filled with violent criminals, rich kids overflowing with whiny entitlement and very little wisdom, and professional agitators,

One of their more popular chants is “This is what democracy looks like”. Well, their version of democracy is exactly what our Founders wanted to prevent when they eschewed direct democracy: rule of the violent mob.

Most of the footage for that video, from what I can tell, was taken during the Defending the Dream summit, put on by Americans for Prosperity. Stacy McCain was at the summit and got video of the assault on the DC Convention Center (you can see all of Stacy’s summit coverage here). What you’ll see, basically, is a mob of people trying to prevent peaceful American citizens from leaving the convention center with children as human barricades. They surrounded an unsuspecting couple who were trying to smoke a quick cigarette outside, interfered with traffic around the event, and eventually turned to harass a reporter from the Daily Caller while she attempted to report from the scene of the protest. That reporter, Michelle Fields, has asked her employer not to assign her to cover any more of the DC protests because she (rightfully, IMO) fears for her safety. In other footage, the OWS cretins attacked a wheelchair-bound old woman in their zeal to stick it to the rich fat cats who run the government in Washington.

So, let’s sum up. Occupy DC protestors did not protest the White House, the Capitol, or the K Street lobbying firms. Instead, they went out of their way to protest a small conservative dinner. While they were there, they put young children in danger, ticked off residents of the city who were just trying to go about their business, threatened and intimidated a reporter, injured at least one elderly woman, and physically threatened several other people.

How noble.

Here is the real question, though. We have been told repeatedly that these Occupy Whatever protests are non-partisan and spontaneous expressions of righteous rage by “the 99 percent”. But if that’s true, why did Occupy DC choose to protest a conservative dinner that 99 percent of the residents of DC didn’t even know was happening? The DC Convention Center is many blocks from McPherson Square, the “staging area” for Occupy DC. In fact, the White House is about half the distance away and K Street is, well, right there. Odd, don’t you think?

It’s not so odd, though, once you know that at least four different federal employees’ unions have thrown their vast political power and wealth behind Occupy DC. Make no mistake, folks, Occupy Whatever isn’t some spontaneous grassroots gathering of political newbies intent on making their voices heard. They are a mob, backed to the hilt by the Democratic Party and whipped up by professionals and career malcontents.

And their mayhem is not yet done.

UPDATE: Stacy’s full account of his evening with the Occupy Whatever goons is now up at the American Spectator’s site.
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