Ben Stien & God

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened.. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto... In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking..

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it..

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.


My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein

Memorial Day - Support Our Troops

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

One US legislator asked a child on a school trip visiting the US capital what Memorial Day means. That child replied by saying that the pools open for their first day of the Summer season. That floored US legislator so hard that he initiated legislation to have a moment of recognition at 3:00 p.m. every Memorial Day for people to pause and reflect on what Memorial Day really means, honoring the many US servicemen and servicewomen who defend this great nation as well as many others.

We live amongst heroes who put aside plans for education, put life and limb in harms way, and spend long amounts of time away from their friends and family at home. Their sacrifice makes one that those of us who have never served could never fully understand.

I hold them up as heroes although many of them would ask that we not do, and I proudly say that I support our troops. And to put meaning to words I donate to a non-profit organization that helps our wounded veterans returning from the battlefield. Many such organizations exist and do great work. I, personally, donate to the Wounded Warrior Project who's mantra reads, "The greatest casualty is being forgotten." Please forgive me for not listing all such organizations, I do not mean to suggest that only WWP does such great work. If you do want to contribute to an organization that helps our wounded veterans, WWP provides a greate way to contribute.

Greivances Against the First 100 Days

1. Tripling the projected national debt in two months: $9.3 trillion by 2010.

2. Bailing out the auto industry followed by firing Rick Wagner (the CEO of General Motors) while taking no action against the UAW whatsoever.

3. Giving AIG corporate executives million dollar bonuses after accepting the second highest amount of donations for his 2008 Presidential campaign and then subsequently doing the same for the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives, but with even larger amounts of bonus money.

4. Failing to adopt the objectives of T. Boone Pickens' plan to move the country towards energy independence.

5. Allowing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to empower the Treasury beyond the limits of the Constitution. This includes capping employee pay, direct modification of employer-employee contracts, and powers to seize companies of the private sector that he, "perceives to be a threat," to the economy.

6. Taking steps towards closing Guantanamo Bay for the mere purpose of international political gain, while having no real plan about what to do with the detainees after closing it.

7. Putting not one single person in charge of the economic recovery who has ever run a business, not even unsuccessfully. Here's the list: Barack Obama himself, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sec. Geithner, Rep. Charlie Ranlge, Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sn. Harry Reid. (It's probably a good idea for a referee to have played a sport before officiating it. You think?)

8. Spending time an energy on interviews to boost popularity rather than concentrating on the economy: The Tonight Show, 60 minutes, and two press conferences taking questions overwhelmingly from well-known softball tossers.

9. While visiting Europe, President Obama states a desire to create a nuclear free world while Iran aggressively pursues a nuclear weapon and North Korea launched a test rocket at the same moment during which he have the speech.

10. Shaking hands with Hugo Chavez with a big smile of enthusiasm on his face, hence creating a perception of America's approval of Chavez' dictatorial practices of confiscating Venezuela's oil industry, nationalizing the press and media, and executing people who speak unfavorably about him.

11. Providing $140 billion in bailout funds to General Electric, a company (Jeffrey Immelt, CEO and Chairman of General Electric) with whom the Obama administration is currently engaging in negotiations for managing all Cap and Trade money transactions, while GE also continues to to fund and pedal the grossly biased and hate spewing of MSNBC and undertook contract work with Iran while Iran supported insurgent activity in Iraq leading to the deaths and injuries to many brave American servicemen and servicewomen.

12. Releasing the Top Secret documents describing CIA interrogation techniques that lead to the interception of a terrorist attack upon Los Angeles.

Positives
1. Escalating troop levels within Afghanistan
2. Taking a new approach to relations with Cuba

April 15th, The FairTax, and Tax Day Tea Party

The United States federal tax code has a reached a level of such complexity, no single person could spend an entire lifetime to fully understand it. Even recent appointees to Barack Obama's cabinet had so much trouble with the tax code that they didn't file properly. (e.g. Geithner, Daschle, Killifer) If the typical taxpaying citizen hired several accounting firms to process his/her return, chances are that each of those firms would report different figures. In fact, that's not a hypothetical. It's actually happened. And that fact just reveals the tip of the iceberg. The cost of compliance has become a dreadful weight upon the US economy, all the way from the typical head of the household filing personal incoming taxes to the businesses that augment the prices of their products and services just to pay for their efforts of compliance. The FairTax is not a tax cut, nor is it a tax raise. It is a tax replacement that makes the federal taxing system more efficient. The FairTax addresses these problems and so many others.

You may have skepticism, or you may have a great deal of excitement. Either way, read the book, The FairTax Book, which outlines the plan. At the very least, you'll learn something that you may not already know, regardless of whether you end up supporting the FairTax or not.

Furthermore, unlike the ignorant, megalomaniac Janeane Garofalo thinks, the Tax Day Tea Parties representing the central theme of citizens uniting to tell the government to stop spending our money in wreckless bailouts and political payoffs disguised as economic stimulus. The people who have essentially become rookie protesters in this movement are true patriots to American values.

Confronting Tyrants - Naivety Makes a Poor Weapon of Choice

Define irony: President Barak Obama speaks to Europe about his desire the denuclearize the world in way of weapons while North Korea simultaneously fires a test rocket over the Pacific Ocean.

"We have been talking about this since the Clinton administration, and they have been building nuclear weapons and building better and better missiles while we keep talking, and one morning like 9-11, there's going to be a big disaster and we're going to say, 'why didn't anyone think about that?'" -Newt Gingrich

You may not care too much for former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, but you cannot deny the reality of what he says. During the Clinton administration, the US sent so called humanitarian money to North Korea, and to no big surprise, the people of North Korea did not receive benefits from that aid. Strangely enough, during that same time period, North Korea revealed the greatest advancement in their weaponry since the Korean War. It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to conclude that this timeline dosn't just make a coincidence; North Korea (Do I even need to insert the word, "probably," here?) used that money to develop their nuclear capabilities. The UN has imposed sanctions upon Iran for greater than 14 years, but the country's leadership hasn't changed direction in its efforts to strengthen their nuclear capabilities, and the sanctions hurt the people of Iran to a far greater extend that the country's leadership.

2006 Washington Post opinion article describing sanctions against Iran:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032902003.html

2003 article criticizing Bill Clinton for his role in North Korea's nuclear program:http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/1/7/164846.shtml

North Korea and Iran persist as totalitarian regimes in the world. They don't persist as the only two either. They want to nuclearize, and while they may create the perception that they don't have those programs progressing, they have repeatedly demonstrated that they fully intend to continue to do so.

You cannot confront a bully with kindness, and bullies run these totalitarian regimes: Kim Jon Il and Ahmedenejad. When Obama announces his desire for the world to denuclearize, he naively thinks that he will create a world without nuclear weapons. While this may create a pleasing fantasy for free countries, it does not guarantee the non-existence of nuclear weapon programs across every corner of the globe whether conducted by North Korea, Iran, or another country or organization.


Imagine a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon and nobody else does. Think about freedom of speech and religion. Think about equality of women. Think about society as Americans know it.


We could find ourselves as ushering in a new era of totalitarian dominance if President Obama achieve what he wants.

Inauguration & Country First

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. The events leading up to this have encompassed much of the nation who did not vote for Obama to acknowledge him as their President and wish him success. Dennis Miller, a conservative political comedian and commentator, expressed this in words stating that he hopes Obama succeeds and governs in such a way that makes him want to vote for Obama in four years. George W. Bush has cooperated with Obama to make this transition process more open and cooperative than any other transition in the past several decades. Conservative pundits across all media have expressed a desire to Obama to succeed. The message is clear: those who voted against Obama have gotten behind him, support him, and want him to have a successful presidency.

This contrasts greatly to George W. Bush's 2004 election victory. A large contingent of the Left dug their heels in and rejected the choice of the country to give Bush a second term. Many called for his impeachment, cried for charges of war criminal, and even so much as disavowed themselves as Americans. This divided the country, stirred feelings of hate, and created a poor atmosphere for the country. All of this made the challenges America faced all the more difficult to overcome, from war in Iraq and Afghanistan to the economy.

As a McCain supporter, I'm proud of the way most of my fellow McCain supporters have reacted to Barack Obama's victory, and I hope that this example sets a precedent for future transitions of the Presidency. To me, this is representative of the commitment to the USA to which so many of us refer as Country First!