J. D. Pendry

J. D. Pendry

Entering 2009, we find that the centuries old battle between the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, continues. The children of Isaac have endured a relentless fight for their existence against the children of Ishmael, often alone, from the beginning of human history. Ishmael, led by fanatical Mullahs and because of them, will never reconcile with Isaac. Some of us, considered the weak minded by the all knowing elitists of our world, know the roots of this epic struggle and how it ends. We have called it by many names. The war on terror is just one of the misnomers we have given it. We rarely, however, want to accept what it truly is - the epic battle between Isaac and Ishmael playing for us as if it was another of Cecil B. Demille’s Biblical productions. Whether you accept that premise or not, you must decide during this new year behind which son of Abraham you stand. There is no alternative choice for you. The fight will not leave you alone. Events, history and ideology force you to one side or the other. Isaac is defending his right to existence as I write this. Also, there are Ishmael terrorist supporting anti Isaac [anti-Western] protestors in the streets of our country, in New York no less. They kill us in our own cities we then allow them to protest in support of the murderers in the streets of the city where their most devastating attack occurred. What does that say about us as we begin the era of hope and change? We can hope, but they will not change. I did not want to depress you with my first thought of the new year, but that is what came to my mind today.

We have other old and continuing battles. We have a continuing battle to replace what Mark Twain aptly described as America’s only true criminal class – Congress – with honest men and women who wish to place a U.S. after their names rather than a D or an R. We have not fought the battle well.

The state of Minnesota is about to put a vulgar comedian in the Senate. If that is how the state of Minnesota wants to be represented, by a George Soros bought and paid for sock puppet, then I expect there is nothing I can do about it sitting here in Wild Wonderful West Virginia where we continue to return the same collection of people to office who have kept our state last in every measurable category for decades. As a collective group, we Americans are proving too ignorant to vote. Not stupid ignorant, but uninformed ignorant. We simply do not take the time to become informed on the issues and the positions of the candidates. We vote for the best campaign or when we think it would be cute to put a professional wrestler in our state house or a comedian in the United States Senate. Or, when we believe all of history’s wrongs will be righted if we put the first half-black-American in the Whitehouse.

If change is truly what we want, then we have to start locally, in our states. We cannot waste time campaigning against Jack Murtha in Pennsylvania or Al Franken from Minnesota while we forget about the failures we keep sending to Congress from our own states. If we begin to document now in every state, by these blogs, in our local papers and wherever else we can, the failures of the career politicians who are in the process of destroying our country, then we have a chance in 2010 to remove them from office. If, however, we wait until the campaign season to begin, we will send the same collection of liars, thieves and charlatans back to Washington to lead us.

We need people who have demonstrated through their actions in life that they support the enduring values and principles on which our country was founded. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with a limited central government that operates strictly within the basic requirements of our Constitution. We can no longer settle for candidates and then hope they will embrace the values and principles that made us great after we put them in office.

Finally, we are in full bail out [nationalization], stimulus, spend money we do not have mode. I can sum this up briefly. If you want to know what Socialist ideals do to a free market economy all you have to do is look at the U.S. Auto industry, more aptly described as a health care and pension fund manager who makes automobiles on the side. The industry simply cannot sustain the entitlement obligations they have with the United Auto Workers Union. At my house and yours or in any other industry, that is the formula for bankruptcy. In Bailoutastan, we give them taxpayer money to continue them rolling down the same pot-holed highway. In effect, our growing central government is Hugo Chavezzing these industries along with our banking system. We are standing by and allowing it to happen.

Now that I am sure that I left you full of cheer, I wish you a Great American New Year. Go out there and stand up for what is right….but do not neglect working on your bunker.

Copyright © 2009 J. D. Pendry All Rights Reserved.

J. D Pendry

This time each year, I take a break from my weekly posts. I tune out the politics, the politicians and other unimportant news of the time. Instead of that often mind numbing stuff, I try to focus on what is most important - like the true meaning of this season and spending time with my family. Give it try, I promise that you will come back refreshed at the start of the New Year. My next dispatch from the bunker will be in the New Year. Have a blessed Christmas.

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. - Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)

******

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. – Luke 2:1-16 (NIV)

J. D. Pendry

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

Today is the third Sunday of Advent. My wife and I were honored to light the Advent candles during Church services this morning. The third Advent Candle is the Candle of Hope.

We hear a lot about hope during our endless political campaigning by people who when asked can barely discuss intelligently the words that come out of their own mouths. It is only later; after their handlers and marketers have schooled them that they offer us what I really meant to say was…. Unfortunately, this is where Americans have largely placed hope - in men and their promises. And as we see more each day, that hope is on men who are unethical, unscrupulous, immoral, proven incompetents and some of them just outright criminals. Sad place for the hope of a people and a nation, isn’t it?

We have placed hope in people who will tell us there is no hope. People who will go to extremes to prove there is no hope. They spend millions of dollars in court costs to remove hope from the public square, from our schools and from our nation’s soul. They could offer hope to many people with the millions they spend to remove it from their lives. These are the people who become hysterical over the scenes of Cristmas. The people who claim that the hope most of us cling to is the root of the world’s problems. The people who want us to believe that there was nothing before this life and that nothing will follow it. They tell us that our hope is a fantasy based on a book of myths, yet want us to place our hope in men who have as their only accomplishment continuous failure.

I do not want to be too negative in the season that is meant to be joyous and reflective, but when reality slams you across the forehead like a piece of dimension lumber you have to consider it. We have the governor of Illinois caught literally trying to sell a seat in the Senate of the United States. Tragically, I expect that it would not be the only bought and paid for Senator we have. Sitting in the state house representing the people is a foul mouthed thug, not different in character from a back alley mugger. The people of the state placed their hope in him and the political system that produced him. Our incoming President, the candidate of hope, endorsed this man for governor. But, just like it was not the Reverend Wright he knew, or the Tony Rezko, or Bill Ayers, or Bernadette Dorn or who the heck knows who else, I am sure it is probably not the same son of a Blagojevich he knew either. I expect this will end with a cable TV series.

You look across the spectrum of political choices and have to wonder if God is just showing us that he has a sense of humor. In Pennsylvania, Jack Murtha called his constituents racist rednecks and our Marines cold blooded murderers and the people of his district sent him back to Congress. I can only conclude that the citizens of Murtha’s district believe as he does. In Minnesota they seriously considered putting Al Franken in the United States Senate and still might send him. Now that would be a real knee-slapper if it was not bordering on a tragedy. Here in my state where life depends on the coal industry, we sent the same collection of losers back to Congress, all of them but one endorsing the man you promised to bankrupt the coal industry. Our state’s largest employer, in case you are curious, is Wall-Mart. I am the last person on this planet that wants anyone to lose their job. I have personally known too many months were the end of the money arrived well before the end of the month did. However, we cannot bail out every political and business failure that exists. In a free market society, businesses come and go. The ones that can compete and provide the best products and services survive and flourish. The ones subsidized by government and ultimately nationalized have no incentive to compete. When you want to see what socialism produces, you only have to look at the American automobile industry. It is a snapshot of the destination of our country if we continue down the bailout highway. Our country, like the automobile industry, also cannot meet its entitlement obligations.

Now that I have filled you with the Christmas spirit, I will try to end on a high note. There is a group of people in which I do place some earthly hope. That is the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. These men and women and their families, representing a very tiny percentage of the American population, are always there to meet the call and to stand up for what they believe in. Whether disparaged by politicians and others or whether overburdened with our nation’s battles they keep coming. They keep volunteering to stand the line between us and the people who would prefer to see America end as the world’s last great hope. Keep them in your prayers this Christmas season.

Remember the reason for the season and place your hope accordingly. Merry Christmas.

Copyright © J D Pendry 2008 All Rights Reserved

 or: How the stench stole Christmas

J. D. Pendry

According to Democrat Senator Harry Reid we are little more than putrid peasants. On opening the new Capitol Visitor’s Center, the Senator was most grateful that he would no longer have to smell the Americans who wished to visit the palatial digs they paid for with their blood and tax dollars. Sadly, I fear Senator Reid is not alone in his aristocratic view of the peasantry.

Yes Senator Reid there is a stench emanating from Washington. I suggest that to locate the source of it, you begin searching in increasingly larger concentric circles around your own little piece of the Capitol building. The peasantry will have to tolerate Harry Reid et al as long as the people keep sending them back to Washington. Harry Reid is an insignificant man who, if history remembers him at all, will recall that he declared a victory in Iraq as a lost war and went on to lead the most ineffective and least popular Congress our nation has ever known.

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. It is also the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii that propelled the United States into World War II. It was an early morning attack. It was a surprise that should not have been a surprise. Near 3000 Americans died. Strikingly similar to the attack of September 11, 2001 isn’t it?

Not really. The Japanese attacked a military target and most of the casualties were military. Our nation, including the Harry Reids of the time, unified and took the fight to our enemy and saw it through to the end. Certainly some people opposed the war, but I have been unable to find any accounts of enemy combatants who were taken on foreign battlefields, some of them held on military installations here in the continental United States, that were given legal rights under our Constitution. I could have missed those historical accounts. I am after all publicly educated.

The ambassadors of the religion of peace attacked civilian targets, using as weapons civilian hijacked aircraft. 3000 people died because they chose to take an airplane ride or go to work that day. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, we unified for about fifteen minutes. Then the politicians felt the most important war was the one between the political parties here at home and chose to fight that one. Politicians in Washington set about disparaging our Commander in Chief and the men and women actively engaged in fighting our enemies. They were and still are cheered on by the liberal press.

These flower child holdovers of the 1960s generation were not very kind to the people willing to defend them. Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy accused them of reopening Hussein’s torture chambers under new management. Democrat Senator Dick Durbin compared them to Nazis, Soviet gulag tenders and the mass murdering regime of Pol Pot. Democrat Senator John Kerry accused them of terrorizing women and children in their homes in the dead of the night and of being so uneducated that they ended up in Iraq. Democrat Senator John Murtha called them cold-blooded murderers and wanted to have a “slow bleed” strategy that would delay their replacements and funding. Democrat Senator Charles Schumer said that American Soldiers were not responsible for any success in Anbar, saying instead that because of the inability of American Soldiers to protect the Iraqis, the Iraqis had to fight Al Qaida themselves. Democrat Representative Charles Rangel said that he wanted to make it abundantly clear that no young, bright individual wants to fight [in Iraq]. Democrat Senator Russ Feingold said that the fact is if we are able to cut off funding, the President will not be able prosecute the war. Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called it the President’s war and a stark blunder. Democrat Senator Harry Reid said the surge isn’t working and everyone knows the war is lost. Democrat President Elect Barack Hussein Obama said that American lives lost in Iraq were wasted and that our military was air raiding villages and killing civilians in Afghanistan.

Yes Harry my friend, there is a pungent stench emanating from Washington. It is a stench that would make a pole cat proud and you own it – every vile aromatic piece of it.

I am trying very hard to embrace the spirit of the season. Maybe a Christmas tree in the bunker will help – and some lumps of coal to fill Congressional Christmas stockings.

Copyright © J D Pendry 2008 All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

What do you think about the Russian analyst who predicted the demise and breakup of the United States? I have news for him. The breakup of the United States was completed the day that being a Hyphenated-American became more important than being just an American. I needed to clear that thought from my mind before moving on.

I recently scanned an article in a paper produced by a professional military association. It talked about the President-elect and what the military and veterans should expect from him. What the article amounted to was a regurgitation of talking points provided to them by a political campaign. I was rather disappointed.

One political statement made by President-elect Obama, or campaign promise, whichever way you choose to characterize it, concerns me a great deal. It should concern everyone. It should concern professional military associations also, but like most other things here in the twilight zone of news and information suppression, it has not garnered much attention. The media, that bastion of investigative and objective journalism, is too busy basking in its political victory to be curious about what it may bring to their doorstep. Before all of our voices are suppressed by the Fairness Doctrine and the Googstapo, I suggest we forget all of the conspiracy theories and lawsuits bouncing around the net and concentrate on those concrete ideas expressed to us by Mr. Obama before we elected him.

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

“Just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded” According to the Department of Defense, the active duty military strength as of June 30, 2008 was 1,385,122. There are 1,105,297 active duty military in the United States and its territories and 279,825 in foreign countries. These numbers do not include the military reserves. The National Defense Budget for 2008 was 647.2 billion dollars. Why would we need a “civilian national security force just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded” as that?

What exactly does the President-elect envision as the mission of this force? Every state has a State Police Force. Every Governor has at his or her disposal the state’s National Guard. We have the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, The U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the US Coastguard and probably some agencies I have never heard of. The question that comes to mind is what exactly will the President’s national security force do that is not already accomplished by these organizations? I am not going to write the answers that keep popping into my mind; just suffice it to say that none of them are good.

Since we appear to be shredding our Constitution, it does not surprise me that no one as yet has raised any legal questions about this force. The Posse Comitatus Act prevents the use of the military to enforce civil law in the United States. It also protects the liberties of citizens. What protections of our liberties would we have from this “civilian national security force”? Mr. Obama made some other comments about national security that should concern all citizens and should especially concern professional military people.

“… I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending [and use it to fund my civilian national security force?]. I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems [while the Iranians develop nuclear weapons and test long range missiles]. I will not weaponize space [but the Chinese have already started]. I will slow our development of future combat systems. [the systems that keep our Soldiers alive and provide them a battlefield advantage]

“I will institute an independent defense priorities board to ensure that the Quadrennial Review is not used to justify unnecessary defense spending.

“Third, I will set a goal for a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenal.”

When these statements are considered along with the concept of a civilian national security force just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded, it should concern any thinking American. It has me thinking. Thinking that I should be making improvements to the home bunker.

Copyright 2008 JD Pendry All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

I was going to write something different this evening, instead I will share this from my archives. I wish all of you and your families a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving day. - JD

On Thanksgiving Day 1971, I was a 19-year-old Private in basic combat training at Fort Ord, California. My military career did not have a grand beginning. For that matter it never had a grand middle or end either, but that’s a story for another day.

In September of that year, just before my 19th birthday, I stepped down from a Greyhound bus onto Fort Ord’s sand and ice plant. It wasn’t the type of greeting that folklore and movies primed me to expect. A Corporal wearing heavily starched cotton fatigues, spit shined boots and a glossy black helmet with large white Corporal stripes painted on the front greeted the few of us arriving from San Francisco Airport. He wasn’t loud and ornery as we expected, but he did walk so fast that most of my small group had to jog to keep up. His first stop with us was an Army Mess Hall where we ate our first Army meal of warm soup and cold sandwiches. A week later, all hell broke loose for us when the cattle car we were crammed into stopped in front of our basic training company.

The first two weeks were tough physically and mentally. All of our Drill Sergeants were recent Vietnam combat veterans who stood as constant reminders of our likely destiny. Unfortunately for me, my second week of training ended with an admission to the surgical ward of Fort Ord’s hospital with a serious case of blood poisoning that grew from an infected blister on my toe. The ward had two long rows of beds. There was one on each side of the long bay. I don’t know the number, but my mental image tells me there were about fifty beds, maybe some less. Combat medical evacuees from Vietnam occupied most of the beds. Young men, most of them my age, missing limbs and with assorted combat wounds were my first shot in the face of a soldier’s reality. It probably wasn’t a good place to make a pitch for a military career to a Private still in basic training. Following my hospital stay, the doctors decided that my foot would not stand up to training for awhile longer so they sent me home for two weeks of convalescent leave. Following leave, I reported to the hospital and the same surgical ward. Many of the residents were the same, but there were some new ones. I spent one more day at the hospital before receiving medical clearance to return to my unit and training.

I missed almost a month of training. Since it was too much to make up, I was placed in another unit that was just beginning its second week. In Army basic training (at least in 1971) one did not want to have the “Recycle” label. Recycle is what happens to those who fail their first attempt at training and have to start over, or in those days it may have been a recycle for disciplinary reasons. Drill Sergeant Shepp shared my personal space for sometime to ascertain why I was a “retread”. Once he was satisfied that I wasn’t a bonehead or someone’s failed attempt at producing a soldier, he put me in the platoon and issued instructions to my trainee leader to get me squared away.

Thanksgiving in the trainee mess hall was quite formal in 1971. The trainees wore their Class A uniform, mostly adorned only with nametags and US collar brass. The Drill Sergeants wore Class A’s as well. All wore combat decorations. One of them, Drill Sergeant Favor, I recall wore a Silver Star. Most wore blue Infantry ropes and Combat Infantry Badges. The Senior Drill Sergeant, First Sergeant and Company Commander wore the Army Blue Uniform. The Mess Hall was decked out with tablecloths and other seasonal decorations. The normal commotion of get in, get fed and get out wasn’t there. The cooks were unusually pleasant and the Drill Sergeants weren’t yelling or kicking anything over. The meal was traditional and quite good. It wasn’t our usual basic training dining experience. Some soldiers, who were local to the area, had family guests. It was quite a scene for my first Thanksgiving meal in the Army, and my first away from home. It definitely stood in stark contrast to the hospital ward.

Over the years, I continued to have Thanksgiving in the Mess Hall, even after I was married and had my primary family to care for. As a First Sergeant, I’d help serve the meal to the soldiers and their families. Inevitably, I’d end up with potatoes or something else on my dress blue uniform and predictably my cheeks would turn red as my wife tried to clean me up with a napkin in front of the soldiers.

The young men and women that comprise our Armed Forces this Thanksgiving are incredible young people. One who chooses voluntarily to place him or herself in the line of danger for the rest of us is an extraordinarily special person. If you were to visit Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC or Landstuhl Region Medical Center in Germany on this Thanksgiving, you’d see many who made that choice.

At home on Thanksgiving, members of my family and I will circle the dinner table and join hands. We’ll offer thanks for all that we have. We will also give heartfelt thanks for those men and women who stand in harms way on our behalf, for those who fill the hospital wards and for those, because of their selfless service, who’ve seen their last earthly Thanksgiving. We’ll ask for a special blessing for all of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coastguardsmen and their families.

Psalm 95:2
Philemon 1:4

Copyright © 2004 J. D. Pendry All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

I just returned from a two-week trip to Korea. My jets are still lagging, which might explain why I was wide-awake at 0300. If my jet lag runs its typical course, I should be sleeping soundly somewhere mid-sermon.

Korea is an interesting place and an interesting lesson. My history there goes back to 1972 when I was an Army Private in I Corps stationed at Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu, Korea. Uijongbu is just down the road a piece from communist North Korea and the world’s most heavily fortified and defended border along the 38th latitudinal parallel north, which if your curious about such things also passes through Wild Wonderful West Virginia where I sit this early Sunday morning. Although today’s average public school product probably could not tell you this, the Korean War never ended officially. There exists only a cease-fire. In 1972, dirt streets and roads were common to many areas. Most Koreans had neither a telephone nor a car. Women wading through the flooded paddies mostly planted rice by hand. In the countryside, thatched roofs were common and many rural areas still had no electricity.

If you visited Korea for the first time in 2008, you would find it hard to believe how far the country has advanced in 35 years. Broadband Internet is everywhere and traveling in many places via fiber optic cable at speeds that would absolutely dazzle the average American Internet user. The electronics industry is booming – Samsung and LG ring any bells for you? Attached to their cell phones and Ipods, Korean teenagers are much like their American counterparts. New cars and SUVs clog the streets that were once mostly filled with tiny little taxi cabs that the GIs called Kimchi Cabs – Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo and many BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus, an occasional Porsche, but not too many American models unless imported and driven by an American military person or a US government employee. Gone are the once common man-pulled carts and A-frames, although the delivery boys (once called chogi boys by the GIs - chogi is Korenglish for go there) on their scooters and motorbikes dangerously darting through traffic are still present. The standard living quarters for a Korean family is a very modern apartment in a high-rise apartment complex, the more elaborate of them depending on the location costing upwards of a million dollars or more. Brick and framed homes, many of them of a western design replaced those thatched roofed farmhouses.

Along with my wife, sitting in a pastry shop in the Itaewon area of Seoul called the Paris Baguette, sipping my Café Americano and eating cheesecake I could see through the window a Dunkin Donuts, Quisnos, Subway, KFC, Starbucks, MacDonald’s and an Outback Steakhouse intermingled with the Korean restaurants and shops. Young Koreans have grown up, as have most Americans, in a land of plenty and living the good life. In the agricultural areas, farm help is hard to come by and immigrant farm workers are becoming common. The large farm that has been in my wife’s family for generations, and now ran by a nephew, has a difficult time finding labor during planting and harvesting. Most young Koreans want to live and work in the large and congested metro areas, especially in Seoul. They are not interested in calloused hand farm work.

The older Korean people, those of my age group and older, have known great difficulties including a devastating war. Their time and experiences made them hard working, very socially and politically conservative and virulently anti-communist. Their hard work and perseverance built the modern and prosperous Korea that exists today. Many younger Koreans who have known wealth relative to the previous generations of Koreans and have inherited peace and prosperity, are becoming quite liberal and as so, in my opinion, a danger to their own existence.

Do you find anything eerily familiar here? In that short story, I could put America in the place of Korea and one could hardly tell the difference. The evolution of liberalism remains the same. The generation that comes through the difficult times builds a prosperous nation for the following generations. As the older generation leaves, so do their values, work ethic and sense of responsibility to the future of the country and to the following generations. Those who enjoy the peace and prosperity inherited through the hard work of past generations, begin to take it for granted. Relativism replaces God and social values, people avoid the dirty hands labor that built the country, politics becomes a wealth producing industry, movie actors and athletes replace true heroes, and education evolves into social indoctrination.

The country, once conservative, evolves into suicidal liberalism. Welcome to 2008 America.

Copyright © J D Pendry 2008 All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

I left the country. Do you like that tired old political cliché? I did not leave the party, the party left me. Well, I am just kidding because I only left the country to visit my Grandbabies that are a short 14 hour plane ride past Atlanta. America is my country. Unlike the Hollywood nitwits who all threaten to abandon America whenever someone other than the most unqualified and liberal candidate in the nation’s history is elected president, I will only abandon America for whatever follows this mortal life. Before, however, it was the Democrats and now it is the Republicans who have left me.

I congratulate my country for another peaceful change of leadership. It is the signature of the freest nation on earth – the freest for now. I congratulate President-elect Barack Hussein Obama. Unlike the unhinged left, there will be no personal disparagement of the President from here. It is however, open season on his wrong-headed ideas, policies and approaches to governing. The treatment of President Bush from the Democrats in Congress, liberals in general and the news media in particular has been disgraceful, period. The Office of the President of the United States and the person holding the offices deserves treatment with dignity. We do not have to like them, trust them or believe what they say, but we can challenge all of that in a dignified manner.

Middle names, just like Delano, Fitzgerald, and Baines, are not off limits and are not disparaging. History will not forget to record it. FDR, JFK, LBJ and now BHO. I did not hang that moniker on the President elect, so if you have a problem hearing his middle name or uttering it yourself above a whisper ask yourself why you do and then take it up with him or the Obama family. Three out of those four are new dealers. We have never fully recovered from the FDR’s new deal or LBJ’s great society war on poverty. On top of those lingering attempts at socialism, we are now about to be asked to sign up for a global poverty tax among other things, which is a wealth redistribution plan that will send your money to the United Nations. You know how well they manage such things simply by reviewing the Oil for Food program.

America has fallen prey to history’s slickest con. A con perpetuated by political correctness run amuck and news media and their pollsters that were and still are no more than instruments of political propaganda. A very dangerous con that put a President in the Whitehouse who is a literal mystery to most of the people who voted for him. 57 million Americans did not fall for the con. They did not believe soaring political promises of something for nothing - a tax refund when you did not pay taxes, nationalized health care billed as free, college tuition and as one mushy-headed young woman put it, fill up my gas tank and pay my mortgage. After all of those new deals crush our economy; the Democrats will want your 401K so they can protect it for you. They want to take the money you earned, had sense enough to save, invest and build on and give it to the Social Security administration to manage for you. Do not worry, the politicians have done such a grand job of bankrupting Social Security I am sure your health care and retirement plan will be safe. Democrats, take note. It will never be George Bushes’ fault again. You can lay all of America’s woes at the feet of Senator Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President elect Barack Hussein Obama.

Every American who wishes to remain free needs to inscribe this in large letters where they can read it multiple times each day. “Every time I let the government make a choice for me, I give up a little more of my freedom. I become more dependent and reliant on government to manage my life. I am right where the Socialists want me to be – perpetually dependent on them.”

I do not want to hear any more excuses from party Republicans about why the election was lost. Especially, I will not accept that the loss was the fault of Sarah Palin who was the only conservative in the race. Without her, Senator McCain would have endured a true landslide loss and not the mythical one that the media is now trying to sell. Republicans, once representative of conservatives in this nation, lost at a game they do not play well - Washington politics. They veered away from principled conservative ideals and instead played for political power, pork and media blessings. If we as principled conservatives cannot get Congress back and make our representatives toe the line, then you might as well clean out your 401K, take the penalty on it, put it in a coffee can and bury in the back yard. At least then, you will have a can full of money even though it will likely be worthless because of rampant inflation.

Do you believe uncompromisingly in the right to life? In your bill of rights? Especially your first amendment right to free speech? Do you believe in your right to bear arms? Do you believe in the freedom of Religion? Do you believe that Americans should only be taxed to the extent necessary for government to provide the basic services of government required by the Constitution? Do you believe that judges should be empathetic toward the Constitution rather than toward the situation of the “little guy” as our President-elect phrases it? Do you believe in redistribution of wealth through unfair taxation or do you believe wealth sharing is a personal choice? Do you believe in a strong national defense? If you believe in those things, then you need to find a candidate for Congress who does for 2010.

Keep your heads up troops. It is time to strap it on, leave the perimeter, and take the political fight to the socialists who have laid siege to our Capitol.

Copyright © J D Pendry 2008 All Rights Reserved.

J. D. Pendry

Happy Election Day Eve. I have gone into self-imposed media blackout. I have grown tired of pollsters, pundits and political strategists. I have voted. The bottom line up front is that I cannot do more than that. The outcome is not in my hands nor is it in any mortal’s. That is how I see it. If you have not voted, forget the blasted polls, do not listen to the media leaking exit poll information and calling the election one way or the other. Instead of taking in all of that, just go vote. I take my obligation to vote personally and seriously. I hope you do the same.

I turned 56 years old not so long ago. Twenty-eight of those years were spent in the United States Army. The people I served half of my life with in the Army are special people. They were my extended family then and now. When I cast my vote, I weigh my choice heavily in their favor. In good conscience I could never vote for a Commander in Chief or a political party that has proven by words and deeds to be harmful to the people who would risk their lives so that these same people might hold political office in a free nation. I could never vote for the party that is already bragging about cutting military funding by one-fourth. Likewise, I cannot support a potential Commander in Chief who states that he will reduce defense spending by tens of billions of dollars, slow development of future combat systems, stop development of the missile defense system and dismantle our nuclear weapons. The same man who said that the lives lost in Iraq were wasted and that our military in Afghanistan was air raiding villages and killing civilians. My brothers and sisters in uniform deserve better leadership and the endorsements from political generals do not change my opinion. I cannot support someone for Commander in Chief that cannot bring himself to give credit to our serving men and women for the tremendous success they have delivered. It especially concerns me that when I hear that we need a Civilian National Security force that is as strong as our military and is as well resourced. For what?

I need to decide whom with and how I share my wealth. I saw the public tax return information from the candidates. I share more wealth than both Obama and Biden combined each year. I decide where it goes. All Americans have an obligation to pay taxes that are needed to fund services provided by government. We do not have an obligation to provide money to politicians to support failed government bureaucracies and social programs and we most certainly are not obligated to provide welfare checks to someone who did not earn it. I believe in giving and sharing. I have worked hard most of my life and am probably more blessed than I deserve, so sharing those blessings where I believe they will do the most good is a choice for me to make. One is not selfish because he does not support forced redistribution of wealth through higher taxes. Our forefathers demonstrated how unpatriotic they believed unfair taxation is when they tossed British tea into Boston Harbor.

I have learned some important lessons over the past few years paying attention to politics. The most important is that we all need to take a closer look at home. The important elections we can most influence are for Congress. In West Virginia, we have two Democrat Senators and two of three Democrat Representatives. Our state legislature has been Democrat controlled for decades. We rank 49th or 50th in every category that measures the quality of life in our state, except for taxes where we are near the top. Politics has been a wealth producing business for our Congressional delegation, except for our New York transplanted Rockefeller who was already wealthy. They’ve brought plenty of pork to the state, but they have created no wealth opportunities for the constituency. They have provided no vision for a state that sits on one of the largest energy reserves in the world. No future vision to modernize that industry for liquid fuel production. No, instead each of them and our Governor endorsed the man who said that he would purposely bankrupt our coal industry. Our state is the number 2 coal producing state in the union. Union coal miners will probably vote the party line.

This is my country. I am not going to give it away willingly. Regardless of the outcome tomorrow we need to start taking our country back from the socialists and career party politicians. Go vote.

Obama has more good news for you bitter, gun clinging, Bible toting, hard working American Coal Miners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdi4onAQBWQ (Sorry, I couldn’t get the embed to work)

Please share this with all you know who live in these 26 states. Coal provides 50 percent of the electricity in America. It directly employs 81, 278 very hard working Americans. By its nature, it supports a large portion of the United States economy. And just for the record West Virginians (the country’s number 2 coal producing state), Governor Manchin, Senators Rockefeller and Byrd, and Representatives Rahall and Mollohan all endorsed the Presidential candidate that will devastate an industry and our state.

26 coal producing states, 52 Major Coal Mining Companies, 81,278 Coal Miners

1. Wyoming 2 West Virginia 3 Kentucky 4 Pennsylvania 5 Montana 6 Texas 7 Colorado 8 Indiana 9 Illinois 10 North Dakota 11 Virginia 12 New Mexico 13 Utah 14 Ohio 15 Alabama 16 Arizona 17 Mississippi 18 Louisiana 19 Tennessee 20 Maryland 21 Oklahoma 22 Alaska 23 Kansas 24 Missouri 25 Arkansas 26 Washington