Pointed Observations From The Right

Things are Getting a Little Crazy

2010-01-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

I had a liberal friend of mine post on my status once: "I'll know when Meredith has gone crazy: When she posts something positive about anyone affiliated with the Democratic Party. Hope I'm not the next Liberal she's gonna criticize!"

Well, get ready for things to get "crazy!"

Since the earthquake in Haiti the world has seen once again that Americans are the most generous people on earth. I challenge you to find another country that has our wealth that has donated as much as we have... China? Russia? UK? Anyone? Yeah... even all you America haters

out there know it's true. Even the most liberal scumbags have shoveled out the dough and I'm proud of them. Whether they are doing it for PR or just because they want to I don't really care.

However, these stars that are donating to the Haitian efforts have been known to donate before, so I believe their

motivations are "pure". Brad and Angelina, Clooney, Sandra Bullock, and Tyler Perry are just a few that have joined the efforts... and have you noticed that none of them have donated to the Red Cross? Interesting since Rush has been under a lot of fire by liberals and conservatives alike for supposedly saying that we should not donate to Haiti (which is a blatant falsity but that's never stopped liberals or conservatives from slamming Rush before) but actually said he wouldn't suggest donating to the Red Cross because of all of their bureaucracy.

I applaud these "leftist" stars for their efforts. You are part of what makes me proud to be an American. Thank you.

Just for the record, I don't just attack liberals. I have been a major critic of RNC chairman Steele. He's a pansy that doesn't have the cojones to be in the leadership position that he is in. He started off as a weak lapdog and has been trying to work his way back ever since. I criticize anyone who I think is worth criticizing... so... get over it.

Finger Pointing: Still Not Working...

2010-01-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

Last week the President gave an impressive and surprising press conference over our current aviation security and where it failed to stop the Christmas terrorism attempt. He lined out the problems in the system and his directed solutions to his staff. "We are at war," he said. "The buck stops with me."

Exactly what I wanted to hear. Nothing like a good terrorist threat to turn even the most liberal of presidents into Republican war mongers. It was funny to watch the leftist blogs blow up about how Obama is turning into Bush's third term.

If only.

But have these precautions been working? Not yet. It was reported today that a man on the "do not board" list with TB was allowed on to a six hour flight. He was detained at the next airport and taken to a hospital.

When TSA was asked how this man was allowed past the security checkpoints they blamed the airlines. The airlines blamed TSA. Yes, it's the airline's fault. They have the right to not sell a ticket to a guy on the "no board" list. However, TSA is our last defense against these people who are not allowed to fly, whether it be because they are suspected terrorists with no passports, or because they are diseased in such a way that it endangers everyone on the flight.

Apparently, those processes that Obama announced have not gone into effect yet. However, should Obama have given that much information to the public? He told not only the American people but all of our enemies the exact flaws in our system. He also told them the exact measures he was going to take to correct those flaws. There are so many things that Bush did or did not do during his presidency that I made me ask "why did/didn't you do this?" But now seeing Obama do these things (or not doing them) I am seeing the wisdom of Bush.

For instance, it would drive me nuts that Bush would not engage the radically biased media. They would literally call for his beheading in the streets, attack his daughters, his wife, marriage, and his intelligence. All he ever gave in return was a shrug of the shoulders and silence. It drove me nuts that he would not dispel rumors or call the media's obvious bluffs. But now that we have a President that calls a press conference every time his feelings get a little hurt, it makes him look like a cry baby. Bush did the right thing, Obama acts like a 12 yr old.

And now we have Obama giving lots of information to the American people about our failures in the national security process, specifically in regards to our flight security. It was frustrating under Bush when we never really knew what exact processes were going on to correct the problems in our security systems. But now hearing Obama list things out in such detail in the name of "transparency" (and we all know how much that word means to the current administration), it makes me cringe thinking that the terrorists have the same access to the information that the President of the United States just told me.

As of now, the policies of this current administration are not working, national security and healthcare being the most significant examples. Hopefully a little wisdom from the Bush administration will some how find its way to the current administration.

Let me be one of the first to say, I miss Bush.

Howard Zinn and The People Speak: An Introduction

2009-12-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to Howard Zinn by the Breitbart think tank. On Friday, December 4^th, I had planned to be in LA touring Hollywood and gearing up to see Mary Poppins (in really good seats, I might add) at the Ahmanson Theatre. I got an email from my friend Stage Right (now Larry O’Connor) asking me if I would rather go to the UCLA campus with the inner circle of the vast right-wing conspiracy for an ‘undercover’ mission.

Hmmm… let’s see… YES!

Anyway, through some email exchanges I was told that the mission was to watch the conclusion of a tour called “The People Speak” that was meant to promote Howard Zinn’s book, “A People’s History of the United States” and the educational project airing on The History Channel on December 13^th (also called “The People Speak”). Stage sent me an email with about 30 links detailing Zinn’s past, including interviews.

This guy, Zinn, has enough of the “I’m so delusional I need medication” rope to hang himself with… Sounds like a party!

Unfortunately, Zinn wasn’t there. Adam Baldwin, Andrew Breitbart, Stage Right (Larry O’Connor), John Notle, Jeremy Boreing and several others were there to at least entertain me… Actually, these guys were on a serious mission. Everyone had cameras, recorders, and the whole The Sting signal down perfectly. Everyone was in “costume”, including Andrew, who was himself.

We sat through the whole event (which is chronicled by Stage Right) and had a break out session after the meeting was over… Okay, by breakout session I mean the guys all got together and talked and laughed at how Andrew cornered Chris Moore (a.k.a. Koala Bear – you had to be there), the producer of the project.

It was amazing to see how everyone was on the same page at the end. We didn’t sit together… that’s just WAY too conspicuous. We all pulled our own unique “one-liners” from the event but all harmoniously agreed that there weren't any “gotcha moments”. And by all agreeing I mean all of the guys gave their verbal agreement while Jaci and I stood totally silent only wanting to enjoy the moment but would rather not be noticed (or maybe that was just me).

Andrew communicated this one idea to his troops: don’t knock the project until we see it (as was urged by Chris Moore). Everyone agreed and went their separate ways.

The next week Big Hollywood slaughtered Howard Zinn, Matt Damon, and the rest of the radical left-wing Hollywood nut jobs who participated in the project. They promoted The People Speak event on Big Hollywood everyday and even had a live blog to participate during the showing that Sunday night.

There is a LOT of information out there about Howard Zinn and The People Speak. Although Big Hollywood has done their best to assemble the most important pieces into one place, I feel that it could be condensed even more. So, I want to give it a shot. Announcing my next couple of posts coming… when I get a chance to post them!

Grace and Peace,

-Mer

Sad...but true!

2009-12-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

Let me first give this disclaimer: I'm not a parent. I'm not married. I've babysat and practically nannied A LOT of kids. That is completely different than parenting and doesn't come with near the responsibility. So, feel free to take my views with a grain of salt. But, this is what this thing is for: sharing my thoughts. So, I'm going to!

After watching this video I had several thoughts come to mind. My first inclination, when seeing this story on the Drudge Report on December 17th, was of course, "Get this kid away from his mother!" After watching this interview, while not totally rescinding that thought... I am reconsidering.

Kids are like cats, they have amazing ways of breaking down all sorts of barriers and hiding in the most unlikeliest of places when given proper motivation. This kid, sadly, had some serious motivation (according to the mother): to see his dad who is in jail.

Why would you tell a 4 year old that his father was in jail? I realize that they are getting a divorce and so the mother is probably in some way (consciously or unconsciously) trying to turn the kid against the dad, but still... don't you think you could come up with a better story? That is a really heavy concept to burden a 4 year old child's mind.

With that in mind, I can totally believe her story about the kid wanting to get in trouble, doing the most crazy things his mind can conceive, in order to see his dad. Because, you go to jail when you do bad things, right? He knows he's not to steal, or break into someone's house, or play in the street, or certainly run away during bedtime. He's also probably been told that "boys don't wear dresses"... It all makes sense to me. And now for Pandora's box:

Oh, he was drinking a beer, too. Drunk, actually. The mom said, "I have no idea how he got it open because it was one of those tabbed beers..." Yeah, uh-huh. He knew where the beer was, probably saw dad, grandpa, and mom open those tabbed beers multiple times. He's a smart kid. He probably knew where the bottle opener was. Kids only need a little bit of example and they will be happy to imitate. This is why I almost blow a gasket any time I see adults drinking in front of their children. It sets an example. And this kid knew he wasn't supposed to drink, so when he wanted to do something bad... what's the first thing he goes for? Exactly.

I know so many responsible and loving parents who drink in front of their kids (obviously with the greatest of moderation), I can only say that it is by God's grace that their kids haven't done the same thing as the kid above (and I'm NOT talking about running away and stealing things). I knew tons of kids in HS who, in elementry, drank from their parents stashes because they wanted to do something bad, or they wanted to be "adults". It doesn't matter what you tell your kids about drinking, if you do it as an adult they will do it when they want to act like adults. Period. Drinking in front of your kids does nothing to benefit them and I will not apologize for saying so.

Obviously, there are some serious break downs in parenting here that have nothing to do with drinking. This whole event did not occur because grandpa had a beer in front of the kid during a game. Obviously. But you and the adults in your family are the examples that you set for your kids. You tell them by your actions "this is what adults do." So, when your kids want to act like adults, at any age, they will imitate that. Including drinking.

What is "Barack Obama" Really Saying to the American People?

2009-12-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

This morning at 11:13 a.m. CST I received this cheerful text message from “Barack Obama” on my phone:

“Solving America’s problems is going to require seriousness of purpose here in Washington—not political games like this."

I was immediately intrigued. Within moments of getting my computer set up at work I had to read the White House blog that this tweet was referencing.

Just an excerpt:

“And in the past few days their (opponents of health reform) stunts and obstruction have reached a new low. On Saturday at midnight, money for the Department of Defense – including the money that funds our troops overseas – is set to run out. Thanks to Republican obstruction on health reform, the Senate delayed passing a bill to continue that funding.”

Wait. What? Because the healthcare bill was delayed, so, you know, the Senators could read the bill, the Senate couldn’t vote on troop funding? Why the heck not? Robert’s Rules of Order allows for changes of items on the agenda. If the troop funding bill is set behind the healthcare monstrosity (which I am assuming that it is) all you have to do is reverse the items on the agenda. Problem solved. Troops get funded. But wait… someone is playing political games. Who controls the Senate again?

Exactly, the “supporters of health reform” i.e. the soulless, heartless, brainless, sheep-like (and I use these terms because this action that the WH blog – the delay of the troop funding that is – describes could NOT have been done without their support) Democrats - and perhaps the one or two Independents and possible Republicans (just leaving room for error, folks) - who support this thrown together, criminal, unconstitutional and heinous sham of a healthcare reform bill, are WITHHOLDING funding from the troops in order to coerce the Republicans and Independents rush through this bill.

So, the game now is “pass healthcare reform or we won't fund the troops.” Aren’t you ready to play?

Yes, Mr. President, I believe the time for political games IS over. Stop using the troop funding, scare tactics involving children, insurance, and seniors to propagandize the American people about this health bill. Stop the buyouts of AARP, and numerous other members of the senate, not to mention the intimidation tactics towards Senator’s wives to shove this atrocity of health reform down our throat. We'll see you in 2012 and we (you know, those of us who don’t think of the troops as pawns for healthcare reform and, you know, those of us who actually have family and friends in the military and currently fighting overseas) will remember this.

Just a few minutes after I had received this tweet it was linked on the Drudge Report. It was then that I realized that something a LOT bigger was being communicated in this blog than even I realized. It was more than just the normal, useless, but sometimes entertaining garbage propaganda… The White House is trying to say something. Well, we’re listening.

What Is Your Representative Doing?

2009-12-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday Representative Mike Reynolds sent out a letter to his constituents. Below is a copy of the letter in it's entirety.

Dear Constituent
Since my last letter there have been many important developments at the Capitol. With the Legislature reconvening the first week of February I felt it is important to update you on some of the most significant issues.

Hopefully, by the time you receive this letter, Obamacare has failed at the Federal level. This massive step toward socialism would be very difficult to undo by future elected officials. I pray that the Republicans in the U.S. Senate, led by Dr. Tom Coburn in conjunction with a few rational Democrats, will be able to stop this shredding of our Constitution and the principles it was founded on.
The failed policies of the Democrat congress at the Federal level are having a massive impact in every state in the Union. Trillions of dollars of new debt are leading to a collapse of the economy nationwide. No person or county can spend their way out of debt. Unfortunately, the failed policies at the national level have infected not only the Oklahoma economy, but also the mindset of many Oklahoma legislators. While individuals claim they are for limited Government, not one board agency has been defunded during the 5 years that Republicans have been in control of the House. In order to fund pet pork projects, leaders in both parties apparently make deals with the Governor so he and they can fund their pet projects. Worst of all, these same people allow tax credits worth hundreds of millions of dollars to be given secretly to wealthy individuals and corporations in the name of “economic development,” the Oklahoma version of Obama’s stimulus package.
Undoubtedly the most important issue at this time is the state budget. If your income decreased by 30% and you only dropped your expenses by 5% or 10%, you would have to go into debt or take money out of savings. The Oklahoma Constitution prevents this type of debt, so the State Treasurer is spending money from other areas like the “unclaimed property fund” and college scholarship programs.
I have learned one method that is being proposed to solve this financial dilemma is electronic surveillance and issuing of tickets. Now suppose that someone steals your car tag. Maybe they even put another tag on your car so you won’t notice. A week or so later you get a citation and are required to appear in court. You plead your case and are successful. It only costs you a day of your time and the stress of waiting until the issue is resolved. If, on the other hand, an officer stopped you for a violation, with the new statewide insurance database that the Legislature forced the Department
of Safety to adopt last year, he could verify your insurance immediately over the Internet, tell you that you need to get a replacement tag and let you go on your way. Maybe this is why the U.S. Constitution requires that we be able to face our accusers, not a camera. A very powerful company from California has hired several lobbyists and sent representatives to Oklahoma to pitch this idea. Apparently, they may receive up to 35% of the proceeds collected on this type of system. So, they have offered to install it for free. Representatives from Atlanta, San Diego and Chica
go were brought to my office during the last session by an ex-legislator to encourage me to withdraw my resistance to this idea. I value freedom too much and after a few minutes of discussion they left. I understand Barry Switzer, outspoken supporter of Brad Henry, has been aggressively promoting this program. That probably is all that needs to be said about the Governor’s position on this issue.
What we must do to solve the uninsured motorist problem is require extreme punishment for the offender. We don’t let drunk drivers leave in their cars when stopped and we shouldn’t allow uninsured motorists either. Their car should be towed away, and if involved in an accident, sold to satisfy any judgment against them. We probably should allow an officer to drive them to the nearest phone booth if they don’t have a cell phone. Another great solution might be to make Oklahoma a no-fault insurance state.
The last item I am working on at this time is the removal of judges. It has been suggested, primarily by lawyers and the “anonymous” editor of the Oklahoman, that this is a silly idea. What is silly is to not pay attention to the public outcry over judges abusing their authority. A three-time convicted felon that rapes children was recently given a sentence of 1 year in the county jail. The killer of a 19 month old child was sentenced to life in prison by a jury, but a judge changed the sentence to just 12 years.
The Legislature may not be the best place for judicial review to occur, but a bunch of attorneys meeting in secret sure isn’t getting the job done. If charges are brought concerning a judge, the public ought to have the right to be present at the deliberations and offer input if they have relevant facts to contribute.

Almost every issue is about openness in government, whether it is budget negotiations, tax credits or judicial behavior. Government is one of the institutions ordained by God in the Bible, and it is here to serve the people, not for the people to serve it.

God Bless,
Representative Mike Reynolds

So, I ask you: What is your Representative doing during the interum time? I have seen Representative Mike Reynolds up at the capitol, every day, all day. He is working and earning every penny that the State of Oklahoma and the taxpayers of Oklahoma pay him in salary. I encourage you to find out what your Representative is doing... I know what mine is and I'm pretty dang proud.

Keep up the good work, Mike.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I am first and foremost thankful for my Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of my faith.

I am of course thankful for my family and friends.

I am thankful for our service men and women who are here and abroad. It is because of you, I have the freedom to write this post.

I also want to give a special thanks to those who are fighting for truth. For those of you who have followed my writing for a while, you know my life calling is found in Proverbs 31:8-9. So, I would like to give special thanks to those that carry out this calling. It seems that at this time in our country, the truth is becoming much more difficult to find. Because of people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and especially Andrew Breitbart (from whom Glenn Beck and Rush get their stories), the truth about what is really going on in this country (and what has happened) is coming out.

Though this time in the life of our country and world is scary, we have nothing to fear because God is sovereign. Think of it this way, out of all the great men and women who have lived throughout history, out of all of those people God had to choose from, God chose you to live here, now. You were the one that God wanted to live in this time of our nation's history. So, grasp what is going on around you with your bare hands and fight it because guess what? You can take it.

So, I am thankful that I have the privilege that I get to live in THIS time of our history. It is a land of unknown terrors, exciting discoveries and fulfilling rewards. I find it a privilege to serve next to you.

Grace and Peace,

-Mer

In Defense of the President

2009-11-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

Many of you have probably already seen the Politico snippit (as linked on the Drudge Report) on how President Obama did not watch the returns for the special elections last night and instead watched an HBO documentary about George W. Bush.

Ha ha, just kidding. He was actually watching an HBO documentary about himself...

While I find the latter entirely possible, the former (him not being informed of the results)... not so much.

I am the first to profess that we have a 12 year old in office that doesn't have a clue which way is up. But I find it really hard to believe that the President of the United States, who considers his word extremely influential (so influential that he did, in fact, go to the three states where the major races were and campaigned multiple times-as did VP Joe) was not following the coverage of the elections.

Okay, so he wasn't watching it on t.v. But how could he?

I got home last night about 10:00 p.m. CST. Fox News was covering these elections like it was November (well, I guess it is November, but you know what I mean). They had constant coverage, analysis of polls, all of their graphics and the overall feel of the broadcast gave it that election night sparkle (can you tell I love politics?). My family flipped to CNN, CNN Headline, CBS, ABC, NBC, and MSNBC multiple times and guess how much election coverage they had?

None.

Not so much as a lower third giving updates. They were completely ignoring that the elections even existed. Granted, this was only a few minute inquiry on each channel, but from what I saw, it was nothing. (If you saw election coverage on the other stations, please insert your experience in the comments. I would love to read your analysis.)

So, the only way President Obama could have watched continuous coverage of the elections was by watching Fox News... Since hell hasn't frozen over I'm pretty sure that didn't happen.

I mentioned to a friend last night the results of my t.v. research and he had no idea what was going on. He told me that he was following the elections online at BigGovernment.com. Couldn't the President have followed the election results online as well? (I'm kicking myself right now for not taking screen shots of all the major news sites to see if this was even possible)

I understand the irony of the President watching a documentary about himself while he endures yet another flame out (see the Olympic results) of his efforts to influence voters... But, I'm sure he was updated.

Don't make too much hype about this, guys. As hilariously ironic as the situation might be, I find it hard to believe that President Obama was in the dark about what was going on last night. We can't focus on this too much because it will only make us look naive. Although that may be the example that the President has set for us time and time again, we should rise above it.

Why Do You Need a Job, Rocco?

2009-10-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

Being a political junkie, avid lover of all things Oklahoma and having immense appreciation for all arts, you can imagine my excitement when I heard that the new chairman of the NEA mentioned Oklahoma in his speech announcing his “Art Works” tour in Brooklyn on October 21.

As I started reading through the speech, I had mixed emotions between laughing at the ignorance and pompous attitude of Mr. Landesman and having that nerve in my neck tweak as he gushed about how Obama is next Ceasar (and this is a good thing?)… You could hear the thrill running up his leg.

Then I found it, Oklahoma. Here is what he said…

“I know firsthand that great art can come from the unlikeliest of places. A few years ago, I visited Eric, Oklahoma, where a museum was being dedicated to one of my idols, the great country music songwriter and singer, Roger Miller. He wrote the music for my first show, “Big River.” While driving the 140 miles from Oklahoma City to Eric, you pass the hometowns of Sheb Wooley, one of the creators of rock and roll, the songwriter Jimmy Webb, and Garth Brooks. What is in the water there? There are certainly no music conservatories, probably precious few music teachers, no colleges, no arts centers, nothing. Just an inexplicable concentration of genius.”

This type of “how does a back-woods red state produce a decent artist?” mentality isn’t abnormal for Landesman. In an August 8 interview with the NYT, Ladesman made multiple statements that he was against artistic endowments to rural areas or any areas without what he considers to have “artistic merit.” In that same interview, he talked about how the arts can play into economic development, yet he doesn’t want the arts to be developing the economics in “rural” areas (and I use that term loosely). Isn’t this the land of opportunity, Mr. Optimist? Does this opportunity not apply to those who reside in “rural” areas?

And speaking of Garth Brooks, what great school developed his musical abilities? His family.

That seems to be an important piece that Rocco is missing from this entire equation. Although passing artistic appreciation from generation to generation doesn’t require federal funding, only the best education in Rocco’s mind can come from music conservatories, colleges, and “good teachers” whom, according to Rocco, appear to reside in massive population centers. Or, perhaps Rocco thinks they should only reside in massive population centers.

Throughout the interview, Landesman talks about providing subsidies for housing for artists to encourage them to move to downtown areas. Why not provide incentives to keep them in their suburban or rural areas to enrich the “artistic merit” of their community? What I find particularly interesting about this is that his precious country music singers that he mentions so fondly come from rural areas. Just think how many more of your favorite artists could rise up from a little bit of “economic stimulation” from the NEA.

Let’s look at his quote about Oklahoma in a little more detail. Even though this isn’t surprising behavior from Rocco, I really feel the need to address the artistic merit of the state of Oklahoma.

Now, if anyone from Oklahoma is reading this, you will find that Rocco has 1 ½ good points. The first one is the water. If you have ever drank water from OKC and then drank the water in say…Norman… you would be asking yourself the same question that Rocco did.

The next point that he makes is that he didn’t find anything from his drive from Will Rogers to Eric, Oklahoma. To be quite honest, he didn’t pass through the major metropolis areas (though, having been through the Brooklyn area, I’m not sure how much of Brooklyn has “artistic merit”). He was driving to a place that has a population of 1,076 people and maybe has 3 stoplights. But, what he did pass by was USAO. Rocco, if you would have looked to your right, you would have seen the University of Science and ARTS of Oklahoma!

Do we have an extension of Julliard in Oklahoma? No.

Really, we only have precious few teachers like Valery Kuleshov, the most respected pianist in the Russian Federation, Dr. Edward Gates, whose performances have been reviewed multiple times by the NYT, Dr. Jonathan Shames, Dr. Z. Randall Stroope (who sells over 200,000 copies of his compositions a year around the world), and Dr. Randy Von Ellefson, but no other teachers to their caliber.

No, we don’t have any colleges that produce people to the level of Kristin Chenoweth, Kelly O’Hara, or Leona Mitchell.

Our schools don’t place in 3 of the top 5 spots (including first) at the Bands of America Super Regional marching band competition as well as winning national marching championships.

We don’t have some of the top jazz education in the country in our high schools or in our colleges.

We don’t have choirs made up of laymen that are invited to sing in the Sydney Opera House. In fact, we don’t even have camps for students that bring in artists from all over the world to educate our children from elementary through high school. I mean really, it’s not like we’ve produced a vast quantity of talented Miss America’s.

Actually, we have all of those things and I would personally like to invite you to come to Oklahoma and listen to one of our "laymen" choirs. We also have the Oklahoma Arts Council, which is locally funded and receives few federal dollars. The only federal dollars that I found that the OAC received was from the stimulus. Do you know what this means, Rocco?

We don’t need you.

But it appears that Rocco has figured this out. “There are certainly no music conservatories…music teachers…colleges…arts centers…nothing. Just an inexplicable concentration of genius.”

If that's the case, Rocco, why do you need a job?

YOU LIE: How the Mainstream Media Covered Up the Exoneration of Rush and the Hypocrisy of the Left

2009-10-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

The below column is one I wish I had written. In all truthfulness, I was actually doing research over this very subject when I came across this column. I decided to scrap all my ideas because the author said everything better than I could have hoped to. Congratulations readers, you've earned a post that doesn't include me writing...well, too much.

Before you start, how about a little background info?

Stage Right is a veteran of the Broadway theatre industry. With a career dating back to the mid-80's, he was involved in management on Broadway as well as a major US city. He also worked for a very prominent non-profit theatre company in New York, has sat on non-profit theatre boards, as well as theatrical union boards. He has been involved with Broadway, Off-Broadway, and touring productions.

Stage Right posts at Big Hollywood and Big Government in anonymity not for professional reasons, but out of deference to his spouse who still maintains deep friendships with many members of the theatrical industry.

He also has a radio show on blogtalkradio.com. The next show will be Monday night, 11pm CST.

If you have any comments I would prefer that you post them on facebook. I am actually a friend of Stage Right, so if you want the author to see your comments himself, I would post them there. I'm not saying he's going to read your comments, but you have a better chance on facebook than you do here. If you don't have a facebook, feel free to post any comments here.

Enjoy.

NFL Owners Who Use the N-Word and Wet Their Pants On Stage

And now a word from an NFL owner:

“And the game done chose me to bring pain to niggas and pussy holes, they one in the same.” - I’m Real, co-written by Jennifer Lopez, minority owner of the Miami Dolphins.

Amidst the uproar over Rush Limbaugh having to step aside from his participation in the bid to purchase the NFL’s St. Louis Rams over racially insensitive statements he never actually made, is the fact that current ACTUAL owners of an NFL team have said much worse than the false and the left says nothing.

Fergie: NFL Owner

Jennifer Lopez, whose Sondheim-like lyric genius is on display at the top of this post, holds the same status with the Miami Dolphins as Limbaugh would have with the Rams. And, not only does she have co-writer credit on this offensive drivel, she also recorded and performed it live. She continues to earn money in royalties for her genius use of the “N-Word.” My guess is that those who took issue with Limbaugh’s imaginary racial slur are OK with J-Lo’s actual racial slur because she looks a lot better in tight pants.

–

Meanwhile, another minority owner of the Dolphins has some controversial issues with public statements as well. Recently, Dolphins minority owner Serena Williams broke quite a few FCC laws by letting loose an “F-word” filled tirade on live television during the US Open. Then she menacingly threatened a side judge and was subsequently disqualified. This kind of behavior and speech seems to be right in line with the NFL’s standards since I missed the press conference from Commissioner Roger Goodell condemning it.

Finally, we get to Fergie, some-time member of the Black Eyed Peas and some-time solo artist. You betcha, she has also been approved as a minority owner of the Miami Dolphins. Fergie is a huge Obama supporter, so I guess the NFL thought it was pretty cool that she just performed her song “Glamorous” at the White House Easter egg hunt… an event for children. Here’s how the DC Examiner reported the event:

Lines like “wear them gold and diamond rings” and “I’m not clean, I’m not pristine” may not be the dream lyrics for their daughters to emulate, but the song’s repetition of the line “If you ain’t got no money take your broke a** home” made a few parents cringe. She did of course edit the curse word from the song Monday — but some of crowd members helpfully filled it in for her.

It gets better. Earlier this week, Goodell said of Limbaugh’s potential ownership, “Divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about.” Is he splitting hairs between “comments” and “lyrics?” Because these lyrics from a 2003 Black Eyed Peas song sounds pretty divisive to me:

Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin’
In the USA, the big CIA …

A war is goin’ on but the reason’s undercover
The truth is kept secret, it’s swept under the rug

Nothing like accusing the CIA of terrorism and our government of lying to bring people together. Goodell also said, “We’re all held to a high standard here.”

Really? Does this meet his high standard?

Whatcha gonna do with all that junk
All that junk inside your trunk
I’ma get get get get you drunk
Get you love drunk off my hump
My hump my hump my hump my hump my hump
My hump my hump my hump my lovely little lumps

How about drinking so much that you wet your pants, mid-song, on stage, in front of a live audience?

This week the NFL did more to silence conservative political perspectives on the radio then liberals and their “Fairness Doctrine” could ever dream of doing. By bowing to shrill political pressure they forced a group of potential buyers of the St. Louis Rams, headed by Dave Checkett, to drop Rush Limbaugh from the ownership team. Forget for a moment that the heinous statements attributed to Limbaugh were never sourced or substantiated and completely false. Also forget that Limbaugh, as a minority owner, would have no actual control or real influence over personnel or management decisions with the team. None of that matters.

The left hates Limbaugh. He had to be stopped.

But Rush will be just fine. They can’t shut him up; he’s too big. And even if they do pass the “Fairness Doctrine,” he will move to satellite radio and finally give Mel Karmazin a healthy balance sheet.

No, the real danger in all of this is the chilling effect it has on the rest of the conservative world. Those of us articulating our points of view and trying to persuade others. Just like Rush has done for over two decades. And now, the seed has been planted. Someday, we might want to own a football team. Hell, we’re capitalists! Will something we say or write now be twisted around or even made up to smear us and keep us from fulfilling our dream?

Yes, the seed has been planted. They’ve done what the intended to do. It wasn’t about stopping Rush… it was done to stop all of us. And they will lie if they have to, to get what they want.

Change? Yes. Hope? Not so much.*

*I inserted that link, not the author.

What They Didn't Put in the Spider-Man Movies

2009-10-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

They just don't write those screen plays like they used to. At one point, it was okay to stay close to the story line, have an unashamedly "American" theme, and have heroes that were just that. Heroes. No crazy deep-seeded psychological issues questioning their own manhood. They were just guys who did the right thing just because it was the right thing.

I read the below quote under a friend's facebook profile "favorite quotes" section. It was attributed to "unknown". After reading it, I determined that this quote was worthy of attribution and immediately began my bing.com search. I expected to find that some great American historical figure said this while under tremendous pressure from a wave of dark and evil forces. See what you think:

"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right.

This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences.

When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree besides the river of truth and tell the whole world--

--No you move."

The great hero who said this: Captain America

I believe the author of the attached site said it best,

"I guess I'm getting old and sentimental, but I swear sitting there reading a Spider-Man comic book of all things, I felt like I could almost shed a tear.

This is what heroes are all about whether real or imagined, the ability to inspire."

They just don't write 'em like they used to.

Why I Am A Republican

2009-10-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

I’ve noticed that today, with the uprising in new additions to politics (welcome), that there is quite a stigma associated with being considered “partisan.” Anyone who is considered a hard-line “republican” or “democrat” is immediately considered some brain-dead kool-aid drinker, especially when you agree with others in your chosen political party.

::shudder::

Part of this phenomenon has been generated by Glenn Beck. He constantly attacks being part of the political “system”. His argument has its merits.

Many people associate the Christian social movement to the Republican Party. If you look at the history of the Republican Party, it is the other way around. In the 80s, the Republican Party bought into the conservative Christian social movement. Christians have been here holding these views all along.

So, why am I a Republican? Why do I associate myself with a party and not just say, “Well, I vote on the Bible”? Below is my explanation.

God gave us this freedom and this government, and it is our stewardship to Him to keep it. It is our stewardship to Christ to be actively involved in our governmental process and our governmental process involves political activities including, but not limited to, passing out fliers, standing on a street corner holding a sign in support of a candidate, making phone calls and other small and - from an outsider looking in -meaningless political endeavors. I’m all about voting convictions over any type of party line; I just don’t think there is one political policy that the Democrat Party has that matches my convictions on a theological level. And if they do have it, then they share it with the Republican Party. That’s why I am unabashedly and unashamedly a member of the Republican Party. Do they get things wrong? Heck yeah! Do they have corruption? You bet! But they are more in line with my views based on my scriptural convictions than any other political affiliation and I won’t ignore that fact just because it makes me “partisan”. I applaud my friends who are “man” enough to say “yeah, I hold to the principals and convictions laid out in the Democrat Party platform.” Good for you. I applaud their intellectual honesty and treasure their views and opinions.

I’m not saying everyone can fit in one of two parties, I’m just saying that I can. It has been a calculated and researched decision and I will not apologize for identifying myself with a group that generally shares my political views.

Don’t fear being placed in a stereotype, people.

Treat that fear like any other irrational fear.

Challenge it.

Thanks Liberals

2009-10-08T00:08:00.001-07:00

So I’m just laying here enjoying h1n1, watching t.v., and catching up on news. I find myself almost feeling sorry for liberals...almost.

They get this joker elected, the star of their A-Team. He was going to make the world instantly love us.

He was going to care for all the down-trodden and needy without raising taxes on the middle class.

He was the new messiah...

…And he's only been moving from one failure to the next, starting with his appointments and ending with his current flame out at the Olympics decision.

"Never before in modern history had a U.S. President needlessly put so much prestige on the line in front of the world community and been so roundly rejected."

Thanks liberals. He's the greatest gift you could have ever given to the Republican party, and the greatest curse you could have given to the American people.

YOU LIE!: How the President Has Lied to the Younger Generations About Their Ability to Succeed on Their Own

2009-09-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, the President gave an address on health care. In it, he gave the following statistic:

"If you're under the age of 21 today, chances are more than half that you'll find yourself uninsured at some point" over the next decade, Obama said in the address, prepared for radio and Internet broadcast. "And more than one-third of Americans will go without coverage for longer than one year.”

Really?

I’m not sure how much I believe in this stat, but without the time, or the care to do the research I’ve decided not to dwell on it too much. But if anyone wishes to scower it over for accuracy, you can look at it, here.

For weeks that statement has been rolling around in my head. Something about it has been bothering me and today I figured it out. This was my conclusion:

So what?

I don’t want to sound callous or unconcered for people who have real concern about their personal health care. But, I think I can speak to this issue with some authority. See, right now, I don’t have health insurance.

Want to hear my sob story? I got laid off at my job 3 months ago and lost ::shudder:: my health insurance along with 80% of my income. And you know what? I went out, found 2 part time jobs, and I’m slowly making it back. I went almost 3 months without a paycheck, just got my first paycheck in a long time today, actually. Am I living the life of leisure that I once was? No, far from it. I feel like I’m working twice as much for half the pay (both of which are practically true). But you know what? So what? You suck it up, and get over it.

Now before all of you weeping libs with embellished sob stories come running after me, I’m not talking to old people who lose their coverage because of cancer, diabetes, old age, have to go on medicare, or whatever. I’m talking to the “under 21” (well, under 25) crowd here.

It seems to me that you’re as likely to lose your health coverage (if you’re under 21) as you are to get in a car accident “at some point”, have a tooth ache “at some point”, get married “at some point”, get divorced “at some point”, lose a loved one “at some point”, and feel the urge to paint a ceramic cat… Okay then. So, if you are under the age of 21, then you have a 50% chance to experience what it is like to live in the real world, at some piont. Ask your parents if they have ever not had health coverage, heck, ask your grandparents. Ask them what they did?

President Obama continued:

"I refuse to allow that future to happen. In the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they'll go without health insurance - not for one year, not for one month, not for one day. And once I sign my health reform plan into law - they won't."

Wait, what? With all due respect President Obama:

I. Don’t. Need. You.

I don’t need you to succeed. I don’t need you to pull me up. I don’t need you or your socialist world to be successful. I can do it on my own, without you.

That’s how he’s lying to us, young folks. He’s telling us that we will NEED HIM to make it. Well, ask your parents and grandparents who helped them. It wasn’t socialism, it was good ‘ol American hard work and a lucky break here or there.

Don’t be fooled generations X, Y and Millenials. We don’t need Barack Obama, and a nanny state. We just need a work ethic.

Worrying shows the sign of at least one thing:

Responsibility.

And that’s what Barack Obama is trying to take away from us. If he can take away any responsibilty that we have, he can take away our freedom.

With all due respect Mr. President, we don’t need you. I live in a strong and independent generation. We will have more potential to succeed than you ever will because our parents worked for us to have it.

My parents and grandparents worked hard so I wouldn’t need you or anyone else on this earth to succeed. And I believe it would be an insult to their name to act otherwise.So peddle your legislation, scare tactics and your nanny state to some other generation, or better yet, country.

Grace and Peace,
-Mer

Top 10 Commercials I Hate

2009-09-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

10. Any commercial with Viagra...TMI...

9. Any ambulance chasing lawyer commercial. You can thank them for the need for tort reform.

8. Any commercial with screaming children.

7. Any commercial that involves a liberal promoting him/herself.

6. Commercials with the Geico gecko talking too much.

5. Any commercial with the Aflac duck, especially ones with him screaming "AFLAAAC!"

4. Any commercial with the Geico cavemen. Dumb.

3. Any commercial by the NYT or the WSJ pretending that they are relevant.

2. Any commerical with the "Progressive" girl, Flo.

...and the #1 most annoying commercial in my world is...

1. Any commercial involving the "roll-over minute mom."

Just for contrast, my favorite marketing campaign was put on by Sam Adams. I don't drink beer, but if I did, I would drink Sam Adams because their commercials rock. Enjoy one for me.

Grace and Peace,

-Mer

You Lie!: How the Mainstream Media has Covered Up the GOP Solutions to Health Care Reform and Why It has to Be That Way

2009-09-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well my treasured facebook friends, you have driven me over the edge on this health care thing! I am so sick of seeing comments, statuses, wall posts, tweets (and whatever form of condensed electronic communication) with the misinformation about GOP and health care.

"The GOP hasn't offered any solutions to the current crisis..."

That statement is blatantly false and with just a little bit of research on the right sites you can debunk this theory in about 30 seconds.

Throughout this post I'm going to share with you several links that support my claims. You may notice, however, that my links all seem to come from the same "side". Before you get in a tizzy about the bias of my links, let me share some research with you:

I pretty much can tell how much GOP news is being shared on the lib networks by my friends' demonstration of their knowledge of GOP activities. Since all of my lib and "centrists" friends seem to be completely oblivious of any GOP activity related to health care other than tea parties (which actually have very little to do with health care, but that's another blog), I can hypothesize that no one on the major news networks is sharing anything about GOP proposed solutions.

The most aggressive and comprehensive reform I have seen from the GOP is the Empowering Patients First Act, also known as HR 3400. To find a one page synoposis of this proposal, click here. I figured for a journalist to be fully intellectually honest about the GOP health care solutions, they would probably at least put the bill's name somewhere in the article. I decided to test my hypothesis by searching for the phrase Empowering Patients First Act on all the major network news sites using their internal search engine. Below are my results using the "relevance" feature of the search engine.

CNN - Most relevant result was Obama's speech over health care on 7/22

MSNBC - Under "full articles" the most relevant was the "Rachel Maddow Show" talking about Obama's speech on 7/22. Guess what was #2?

NBC - Nothing, their filter was a mess...

ABC - On the main site no results. On the news site the most relevant was a swine flu article.

CBS - A blog about the DNCs solution coming under "opposition." I thought, This looks promising , only to be disappointed. The blog quoted only Democrat officials and had three sentences talking about GOP "concerns" which are not solutions. So, that doesn't count.

Fox News - The first story covered all the proposals given by the GOP as of 9/10 (which is when the article was written). According to that article, the GOP has put up 35 different proposals having to do with some type of health care reform. To see a list of these proposals with accompanying links click here.

So, if the rest of my links in this post are biased, I think you should be able to see why. Complain to the MSM for not doing it's job, not to me.

With all of Pelosi's false promises to "objectively consider reforms from the 'other side' ", she seems to be completely oblivious to their existence. Perhaps one of her staffers should google "GOP health care solutions". That was all I needed (actually, I used bing.com).

Wait, hasn't the President said he would meet with GOP leaders to talk about solutions?

Well, he lied (and I will not apologize for saying so). As of now, the chair of the GOP effort Representative Tom Price, M.D. has sent 3 formal letters to the President asking for a meeting to talk about health care reform. The latest was sent on the 14th. He has received no response from the White House.

How very bipartisan of our President.

This administration in conjuction with the mainstream media has been ignoring any plans/solutions presented by the GOP. Why, you ask? Because it has to be that way.

The administration cannot get their full government run system if the American people know there is any other option. The administration has given us two options:

Do nothing and everyone dies in the streets from swine flu.

Single payor/obamacare/Canadian care/UK care/whatever other name the White House "blog" calls it - system.

My friends, there is more out there and it pains me that you don't know it. I hope you found these links helpful.

If you want to know what I think about the health care situation and my solutions, please see one of my previous blogs.

Do your research on this thing. Know our options and stop saying that the GOP hasn't offered any solutions. That is just a lie from the pit of hell where CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC and this current administration's politics currently reside.

Grace and Peace,

-Mer

Early Thoughts from the Insomniac

2009-09-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

So, this is the new blog. I will hopefully be somewhat moderately faithful in posting. I made this blog because I was tired of my only outlet being facebook "notes". Below are some of my previous notes so you can see where I'm coming from and where I'm going.

Right now I'm watching "Death Race."

Eh. Better than what I thought it was going to be.

Well, that's all I have for now. Enjoy the reading until I figure out how to use this thing...and come up with something new...

Good morning!

My Thoughts on Healthcare - as posted Sept.8, 2009

2009-09-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

As a sick person who just recently experienced the marvel of the American healthcare system, I decided to write a few thoughts about it.

On Friday I woke up with a sore throat. Afraid of getting sick, I drank lots of water and invested in some throat lozenges. For the next three days I took vitamin C and other vitamins to help my immune system, which were easily purchased from a successful business that participates in the wonderful American free market system. Seeing no improvement this morning, in fact, taking a turn for the worse, I called my doctor and scheduled an appointment with one of his PAs for two hours later in the day. Try doing that in the UK.

I walked into my doctor’s office at the exact time of my appointment and was seen 20 minutes later. Not a great wait time, but not a bad one. There were people who were there before me, that weren’t called in front of me. We’ll get to that in a minute.

I was seen within 15 minutes in the waiting room, diagnosed, handed prescription scripts and sent to the font desk. I sheepishly explained how I had recently changed jobs and do not carry insurance. I reassured the clerk that I would be paying the full amount today with no problem. She took my credit card and changed $55 and I went on my way.

I then went straight to Walgreens and placed my prescription scripts in a little box outside of a window in the drive-thru. The clerk behind the window said, “We are a little behind today, give us two hours.”

Two hours?! I thought to myself. My lungs are burning right now! Just then, the newsbreak came on the radio and reminded me about President Obama’s speech to children today to try to salvage some poll numbers. Realizing that the messiah’s healthcare bill would change my two-hour wait into two weeks, heck, in most cases, two months I quickly turned my head and said, “No problem.”

I came home and marveled at what a glorious experience I’ve had in the great American health system. I was sick, immediately able to see a qualified medical professional for diagnosis and able to get my prescriptions within two hours of me turning them in.

When have you ever had anything close to that type of efficiency when dealing with ANYTHING government controlled?

With any type of government-controlled plan, this would NEVER happen. How do I know this? Remember the people in the waiting room?

There were at least 10 people in the waiting room in front of me. All but 1 I am pretty sure were on Medicare. I mean, I don’t like to judge people’s age, but, they were old. So, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that they were on Medicare since your forced on Medicare after age 65 (there is not enough space in this note to explain this atrocity).

Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield are very similar in how they work. They aren’t the same entity but they are pretty close. Blue Cross/Blue Shield does not allow patients to see anyone but a licensed physician - in other words, a doctor. If you are over 65 and happen to fall and need a hip replacement and some physical therapy, you could not see a PTA (physical therapist assistant) for any of your PT visits. They simply won’t pay.

When I came out of the doctor’s office, 6 of the 10 people in front of me were still there. Why? Because on Medicare they can’t see a PA. Although doctor Miles is pretty chatty, the main reason he is slow to get to you is because he has so MANY patients. For good reason, he’s a great doctor.

You may be thinking, Okay, so, fine, government dictates what type of physician you can see, it sounds like to me they are making sure their patients only see the best of the best. What’s the problem?

Well, for one thing, PAs and PTAs have a great place in the world. For another, if the government can dictate what type of medical professional you can see, they can also dictate everything else. Such as, “You can’t see the doctor for a sinus infection unless you have a fever over 102.” If you go to the doctor, have a sinus infection but without the fever, the government can refuse to pay the doctor. They do it with Medicare patients. If a Medicare patient happened to see a PTA for a PT appointment, Blue Cross/Blue Shield will refuse to pay for the visit.

Of course the American healthcare system is not perfect. That’s because it is run by humans. But it sure is the best thing out there. Just ask the most wealthy in all the other countries all over the world. Ever been to Mayo Clinic? Probably not. But if you happen to ever venture to Minnesota, take a look at the demographics of the Mayo Clinic patients. You’ll see a heck of a lot more than just American’s there.

But what can we do to improve the healthcare system?

The problems in American Healthcare can be summarized in three words: doctors, insurance, and consumers. (I know, I know government could be added to this. But government intervention is only making these problems worse, not creating them. Government intervention will create more problems – and has created more problems – that I feel falls into these categories. Since this is my blog, I’m right.)

In short, doctors (many, but not all) try to screw over insurance companies by coding their cases and their visits to get the most money out of the insurance company, regardless of the actual case.

Many (but not all) insurance companies screw over consumers and doctors every day. I highly doubt I need to elaborate on this one, considering that just about everyone I know doesn’t like insurance companies. I find insurance companies are a lot like lawyers, everyone hates them until they need them.

Lastly, consumers pretty much find any way they can to screw an insurance company. They want to pay as little as possible, and have every bill fully paid - and then some. Obviously those are gross generalizations but you get the idea… It is a major over-simplification, but a good basis.

For these purpose of this explanation, we will assume that each one of these categories contributes to the overall problem of healthcare equally (i.e. 33%). I have a major solution that deals mostly with the insurance part of the problem.

So here it is:

My 25% solution is two-fold –

First, congress MUST stop trying to create a public option/single payer system/UK health care/Canadian health care/whatever new shiny name President Barack Hussein Obama tries to call it on his “White House Blog.”

Why? Because it is completely, 100% unconstitutional for the federal government to create a health care system for the American people. Seriously.

No really, read it.

Article 1 Section 8 is where the constitution lists Congress’ powers. There are 17. None of which include health care. Just so you know. So, the job of healthcare regulation must be given somewhere else, right??

How do we know this? The 9th and especially the 10th Amendments… Any powers not given to congress are expressly given to the states. Period.

Now for all my lawyer friends who are at all savvy with how the law/courts interact with the constitution, you’ve probably already figured out the argument that one might use when defending a federally mandated health care system…this, however, would actually require you to read the constitution…

Oh there it is, the second “enumerated” power – more commonly known as “the commerce clause.” The idea behind the “commerce clause” argument is that because one of the powers of congress is to regulate commerce between the states, government has the right to create Obamacare… They would say, “Well, you’re doctor went to school in another state, and the drugs that he prescribed you were manufactured in another state, so, that is inter-state commerce.” However, “regulate” here is not in the sense of “create a bunch of rules for them to abide by”, it is meant to “make regular” or to ensure states aren’t preventing inter-state commerce.

So, for any of the congressmen to get any peace at their “town hall” meetings, they must stop debating this/trying to create UK/Canadian/single payer/medicare for everyone/Obamacare - simply for the reason it is unconstitutional.

(Let me take a moment to point something out: No one in congress has made this argument. No one in congress is trying to argue that this is constitutional. What does this tell us? Psst. They don’t care if it’s constitutional. They aren’t even trying to pretend that it is. As they say in the movies – this is the time to panic.)

Good news, though, the commerce clause is actually the second step to solve the problem. Congress is supposed to regulate the trade between states and ensure that commerce can move between states.

Now, what form of commerce, that has to do with health care, currently cannot freely move/compete between states?

Anyone?

Insurance.

Yep, that’s right. States have been shutting out some insurance companies and been giving preferential treatment to others. This does not promote good commerce or competition in the insurance market that operates between the states.

So, what congress SHOULD be doing to solve at least part of the health care problem is going after the states who have shut off insurance providers for the purpose of giving preferential treatment to others that operate within the state. THAT is what congress is supposed to do under the commerce clause.

Will this solve all the problems of the healthcare system? No. Will it solve all the problems of the insurance system? No. But I am resolved that this is a large portion of the solution. Good competition promotes better business. (Please, don’t try the ignorant argument that that is all the government is trying to create – competition. It’s not. Government doesn’t allow for competition for long, it regulates any competition out of the market.)

Allowing competition to move freely will not create a perfect, moral insurance market. However, it will allow moral insurance companies the opportunity to compete in the market on a more level playing field.

So, the next time you get the sniffles, or wake up with your lungs burning, and you can get treated for it within the same 24 hour period whether with over-the-counter drugs or by prescriptions, just thank God your not living in Barack Hussein Obama’s ‘changed’ world. Then write your congressmen (and maybe a few others) and express your gratitude for their courage to stand against the President and his insane, fatal policies.

Grace and peace,
-Meredith

The State Rock Song: A Small Rant - as posted on April 24, 2009

2009-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Today, it seems that the most important thing on the agenda of the Oklahoma State House and Senate is the State Rock Song.

Really?

But, seeing as it is a Friday I was willing to excuse this until I started doing the math...

Number of Senators 48
Number of Reps 101
Minimum salary per legislator $38,400
Days in session 160
Total salary cost $3,878,448.00
Cost per session day $24,240.30
Cost per session hour (8 hour work day) $3,030.04
Cost for 2 hours $6,060.08

Again, the $38,400 is the MINIMUM salary. You get paid extra if you are the chair of a committee or if you are the Speaker of the House (btw, I think this salary is BEYOND reasonable). However, if the House and the Senate spent a COMBINED amount of time totalling 2 hours to debate, vote and revote on this bill (including all of the time it spent in committee and the time writing the bill) it cost the Oklahoma tax payers a MINIMUM of $6,060.08 for us to get a state rock song...Seriously?

Isn't there something more important to do with our money? Even on a Friday? Commercial moment:

Price of State Legislators' salary: $3,878,448.00
Price of State Legislators' salary per hour: $3,030.04
Estimated minimum price to vote on state rock song (only to have it overruled by the Governor): $6,060.08
Spending the Oklahoma taxpayers money by doing something that will actually matter in 48 hours: Priceless

Why I care...Why I fight - as posted Oct. 20, 2008

2009-09-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of last weekend I got really discouraged. I was sick of hearing the garbage from the media and the libs. I was sick of being yelled at, called names, cut off, and generally disrespected for no other reason than the fact that I like Palin. That’s what it really comes down to, I discovered. Because I support Palin.

It doesn’t matter what I think about McCain v. Obama’s tax plan, it doesn’t matter where I stand on the life issue, it doesn’t matter what I think about congress, it just matters that I support Palin. Because I hold the same ideals as Palin people are shocked, SHOCKED, that I might want someone who thinks like me being in office, yes, one heartbeat away from the presidency. Anyway, I was feeling pretty disheartened. I’m told by people on the right and the left that it is over, Obama is going to win, and that is that. It’s just how it’s going to be. I am forced to see my wonderful country turn socialist by one of the most dishonest men in America: Senator Barack Hussein Obama.

I just kinda shut down from politics. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore, I didn’t want to talk about anything. What’s the point? If he’s won and we’re all doomed, why fight, why care about ACORN, Ayers, “spreading the wealth around”, or the media attacking Joe the plumber? You’re just going to get yelled at by a bunch of people who can’t get over the fact that life isn’t fair. These are the same people who believe that Bush is solely responsible for the fact that life isn’t fair and some will have to work harder than others.

I was sick of it, I was done. But after events on Saturday and having the weekend to think about it, I came to realize why I care so much, why these conversations with my friends yelling at me and calling me names were on my mind, why I continually research, read, and discuss even though I really didn’t want to: her name is Feruza. Why do I care? Because of people like Feruza.

Feruza is a wonderful friend of mine from Uzbekistan. She’s a little older than me and doing her first year of school at O-Trip. She was just now able to come here this year to begin studying in America. This alone is a foreign concept to me because I have no clue what it is like to desperately want to go to another country and study to get an education. Sure, I would like to study abroad for the cultural benefits, but, I think the best education is found in America. Feruza spent the 4th of July with my family and has since fallen in love with the “real American family.” At least, she really likes my family. I asked her what she was going to do with her business degree. She said that she was wanted to stay here and own her own business because she really couldn’t do that in her country.

Think about it, a woman from another country wants to come to America so she can study, drive (which she can’t really do in her country and wouldn’t do because of some of the cultural ramifications), own a business (which she said women couldn’t really do in her country either), and just live in America. After taking Feruza out for one of her very first birthday celebrations ever it made me realize why I care about American government so much: (I mean, aside from being a Christian and it being part of our stewardship to Christ.) because of people like Feruza.

I want women (and men, too) to want to come to my country and be encouraged to start a business. I want people like Feruza to have hope that they can have whatever life they want for themselves. I want Feruza and people to live in a country where if you just work hard, you’ll get to where you want to go. You’ll have struggles, set backs, deception, and hard times, but in America, you have a better chance at success from just plain old hard work than anywhere else in the world.

I care, study, campaign, discuss, vote, pray and cry for the Feruza’s who haven’t been able to make it here yet. So, I haven’t given up. Am I sick of being yelled at by emo libs? Yeah. Am I tired of the media strangling the truth? Yeah. But God is faithful. Second Chronicles is very clear on what this country needs to prosper. Repentance.

If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

So, all we Christians need to do to win this election is repent and live perfect. =)

Let me include another verse in here:

Let Your mercy be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:5-6

The word used for prayer here is where we get our word “prosecute”. And the word for petition is the concept of begging for mercy. Bro. Tom put it this way, first, you are the prosecutor making your case to God, being specific, on why you are praying for the things you are, then you crawl up into the witness stand and beg for mercy.

So, let me challenge you, don’t sit and fret like I’ve been doing, and don’t get depressed that this thing is all over. The Lord is near and he will hear our cries. Repent and seek His face, make your case to God and then beg for mercy. Do it for not only yourselves but for Feruza’s everywhere.

Grace and Peace,

- Meredith

This Is to All You Christians Out There - as posted Nov. 8, 2008

2009-09-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

WARNING!
This is long. No really, it's long.

This is to all of you who have called for unity, who have given a call to “rise above partisanship”, who have written notes about this “historical” election (as if all presidential elections aren’t historical), have written notes about your disgust with “divisive” or “hateful” Christians and last and certainly least have personally (directly or indirectly) called me a hatemonger, divisive or some other name.

This note is for those of you Christians who have been posting scripture about being unified, or respecting your authority, or equality of all beings or other topics (obviously, there is nothing inherently wrong with that unless you take the scripture out of context which I don’t think anyone has).

I have one question for you: Where have you been for the past 8 years?

While Bush, the Iraq war, Sarah Palin, John McCain, Inhofe, and other leaders have been brutalized by other Christians or people in general, where have you been? Where are the notes, the tags, the posts, the comments, the name calling, where has this been? Where were the notes posting of the historical nature of Clarence Thomas, Condeleeza Rice, J. C. Watts or Colin Powell entering office? Where were the comments about the race barrier being broken then? Where was the excitement from you then?

Where has been the disgust with Christians who go and protest Bush for the Iraq war, or who say hateful things about Bush, or any leader (like Sally Kern)? Where has been the call for “unity” to everyone for the past 8 years? Where have you been, fellow Christians? Obviously, I know the answer to this question. What’s worse is that I know that you know the answer to this question. You could say that this makes the question somewhat rhetorical. Regardless, the answer is simple:

Silent.

You have been utterly, completely, deafeningly silent.

While Bush has been thrown under the bus, while Chaney has been dragged through the mud, while Inhofe, Sally Kern, and other leaders have been completely and utterly destroyed by other Christians or just people in general not ONE NOTE was written, not ONE COMMENT was made by you Christians about “unifying under our appointed leaders by God” or “rising above partisan ship” or “unifying to work for the future.” (note: caps meant for emphasis, not anger)

Nothing.

While you all were sitting on your religious butts either because you were apathetic, unknowledgeable or simply didn’t care, some of us were out there putting ourselves on the line and getting slaughtered because NO ONE had our back. And now, when those of us who have been up for long hours fliering, calling, knocking on doors, contributing actual money (*gasp* you mean, you give money to the candidates? As a college student?), when we rise up and say “This choice is wrong!” who do we get stabbed by? The very people we were fighting for. Who are the ones attacking us on forums? The Christians (or liberals who don’t know us and I take their comments with a grain of salt because they don’t know me, but I expect more out of Christians who actually do). Might I also point out that it is really easy to type things at an avatar, many of you have said things that you would never say to my face (and if you think I’ve done the same, think, it’s me you’re talking about /moderate sarc).

A.D.D. moment: To all you libs out who actually know me (like Jon, Jeff, and others), thank you for being civil. You’ve never personally attacked me or called me a hatemonger. It’s nice to have your comments. I know you don’t agree with me, think I’m too assuming, and that I probably make your eyes bleed by some of the things I say. During this you know exactly how I feel because you dislike Bush so much, so it doesn’t surprise you to see my disdain for Obama. You haven’t been calling for “unity” or trying any “holier than thou” tactics. I feel like we’ve always had great forums, especially during this. I hope you feel the same about me.

Okay, back to you Christians: If my comments to you, suddenly interested Christians, on notes, comments or anywhere else seem short or frustrated please take a moment and contemplate why this might be:

For those of us who have been working for the past 2, 4, 8, 10, or 15+ years (like myself) having Christians who have been interested in this election and politics in general for the past 3 months comment and tell you how to be after an election is a little frustrating. Having Christians who have never delivered a flier, contribute to a campaign, made calls, knocked doors, researched candidates, been to a party meeting or even had a political conversation (outside of the last 3 months) attack you is a little annoying. Hopefully, you can see why this might be.

So, before you start calling me and others names, calling us divisive, call us to unity, post scripture at us, or whatever you have been doing, try getting an election under your belt. Try actually DOING something in an election before you start lecturing us on political Godly unity. I hear you in church talk about the tenants of the Christian faith, talk about how much you love our country and yet you have done physically NOTHING, absolutely nothing, to make sure those Christian ideals are kept in government (prior to this election or probably even in this election).

Do I blame you totally for this? No. Because our church and just about every other church I have ever heard of sucks on educating its people on issues. When was the last time you heard about why abortion is wrong preached from our pulpit? When was the last time you actually heard an argument from scripture about homosexuality, about the need for war, about any mainstream political issue taught from our pulpit or heard it from any other? I don’t ever remember hearing a message from Tom over those topics or a Sunday School lesson over this. I don’t recall Tony tackling these issues although he has acknowledged them. I never heard a sermon over any of these issues on a Wednesday night while in youth with any of the 4 youth pastors I had. Needless to say, I believe the church has failed over issue education for its people. So keeping this in mind, I realized you haven’t been fully equipped by our church about these things.

This is my prediction for those of you Christians who just decided to tune in the fourth quarter (heck, we are in 3OT). You know, those you who only came along for the finish, to pretend you’ve experienced it or helped in some way: Two months after the inauguration your excitement will fizzle out. After Obama signs a few unscriptural bills into law or vetoes a few partial birth abortion bans or gay marriage bans your calls for unity will fade away. I suspect by summer you will have no interest or idea on what he’s doing, you’ll probably stop watching his speeches and go back to trying to stay as far away from politics and issues as possible. If Christian’s are anything, they are inconsistent. That’s what you have done before this (been uninterested or ignored politics) and so you have no past behavior to prove that you would do otherwise. Know this, I will be ecstatic to see you prove me wrong. I would be so happy to see you Christians come alongside and ferociously fight the good fight, but I highly doubt it will happen. Please, prove me wrong. I will close with this thought (and I stole it from an “unnamed source”):

Take heed when people start preaching unity, it means they want you to not question something (or stop thinking). When someone starts preaching “go along” for whatever reason, that’s the time to question the most. If you’re a Christian and this made you mad, good, then maybe you’ll get up and do something to prove me wrong. If you’re a Christian and this didn’t make you mad, excellent, it wasn’t meant to and that means you took this correctly (or this wasn’t talking about you). Everyone is entitled to an opinion, of course (and in our country they are allowed to post it! Thank God!). So please, respond with your thoughts and questions. I would love to read them.

Grace and peace,

-Meredith

My thoughts - as posted Nov. 5 2008

2009-09-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

So this is what God taught me while I was praying for this election:

I spent several nights in my room (as many of you know) crying, begging and pleading with God about this election. I begged for mercy and for Him not to turn us over to ourselves. I pleaded with Him to stop the corruption in the voter registration fraud and show the world His power by allowing a McCain victory (even though, it was really impossible because of all the fraud). There were two times that I really felt God speak to me.

Once while I was laying on the floor of my room and I was staring at the ceiling bawling over 2 Chronicles 7:14. I was begging God not to let my sin, my failures keep me from what He had for this nation. I remember saying, “God, if it were up to me, up to my life, up to the way I live without sin; if You said, ‘The fate of America rests on your ability to turn from your sin’ or ‘how you live your life’ then America would lose. Because I have sin that I hold on to.” And then God just said to me, “But the problem is, that verse is talking about people who are just like you, it’s because of you and people who are like you, who hang on to their sin, just like you, that I allow My nation to be the way it is.”

I was overwhelmed.

Then today as I was driving I was asking God to give me peace. I got on facebook and everyone was exploding. Dems were freaking out and reps were freaking out. Everyone was emo charged. So, when I left for lunch I just started asking God for peace. The same peace that God had given me the day before when I asked Him for it. I then said, “God, I’m just disappointed and I need peace to get over it.” Then God reminded me of what had actually happened last night.

Jeff Cloud won by 40%
Dana Murphy won at 52% over Jim “the snake” Roth.
Jim Inhofe won at 56% over punk kid Andrew “I’m a really bad liar” Rice.
John Sullivan, Frank Lucas, Tom Cole, Marry Fallin, and Jonathan Nichols all won.
Brian Maughn won County Commissioner (I don’t know by what margin but it was a tough race as well)
Dan Newberry won at 63% over Nancy “I switch my party after elected” Riley.
Jim Reynolds won by 159 votes. This was after a smear campaign by his opponent David Boren who lied and was funded completely by lawyers from Washington D. C. and he only started campaigning two weeks ago. Jerk. Anyway…
Randy Terrill won at 62% over his slimy opponent Troy Green.
Sally Kern won at 58% over her opponent, Ron Marlett that was funded by activist homosexual groups from California and he started campaigning against her long before hers started.
Mike Christian won a very tough race for Al Lindley’s seat. He has been campaigning for almost 2 years and has done a fantastic, clean campaign. He received 54% over the other two opponents.

And the list goes on and on.

Long story short, Oklahoma Reps picked up 3 seats and Senators picked up 2. This gives republicans the (can you believe it) FIRST ever Republican congressional majority. This is the first time in OK’s history that Republican’s will have a majority in the house and the senate. It was after God ran all that through my mind that He said, “And you’re unhappy? You think that I ignored you and all your pleading and begging?” This made me realize that God had provided for me. The people who actually govern me, not some bully-pulpit suit in the distance was actually on my side. They were the ones I asked for and they were the ones I needed. And I wouldn't trade these election results for any other. So, just as I was feeling all cocky God immediately said, “Why don’t you beg me to protect My country every day? Why aren’t you on the floor crying, begging Me to keep you safe every night?”

My friends (ha, get it?), we should not pray for our country just during election season. It shouldn’t even be more during election season. That’s when our elected officials aren’t doing anything to govern us, they’re just campaigning. We should be praying, begging, pleading, crying, discussing, debating (*gasp*), and educating ourselves throughout the years and our peak times should be the times that are the furthest away from election cycles, because that’s when our governors are actually doing something to govern us. So, if you, like many others and myself, had a fire lit under you to pray for our country’s leaders and the elections don’t let the fire die. We should be on our knees every night begging God not to give us over to ourselves and to keep interceding in our government. Think of it this way, today is the first day of working for 2010 (yes, there are elections then) and 2012. Call your county chairmen and find out who your precinct chair is. Go knock some doors, go to some meetings, go meet some officials, go get informed and by doing that, you will be fulfilling your stewardship to Christ with the responsibility that He has given you called the American Dream.

Stop being silent or whining. Go.

Speak up for those who have no voice. Speak up for those who are oppressed. Speak up, judge righteously and defend the cause of the oppressed and the needy!
Proverbs 31: 8-9