When the fallout of deficit spending comes, a lot of critics will have to answer for not heeding the warnings of Congressman Ron Paul. When you can no longer drive your SUV, or afford your lifestyle, you won't care two bits about Iraq, Syria, or any Iranian nuclear threat. When lending nations dump the dollar as a reserve currency, the economic fallout will inspire the millions of nonsensical Bush supporters to repent for their swallowing the inflated threat of "Islamo-fascism;" but at that point they will only whine and place the onus on a Democrat.
The liberals are no different. Their endorsement of huge deficit spenders like Obama, Hillary, and Edwards will crash the economy just as much as an expensive war. The short of it is that we must have smaller government NOW. We must curtail spending NOW. We must stop the wars NOW. We must deal with the Federal Reserve NOW. Ah, the heck with it. Listen to the experts:
"America is coming apart, decomposing, and...the likelihood of her survival as one nation...is improbable -- and impossible if America continues on her current course," declares Pat Buchanan. "For we are on a path to national suicide."
The best-selling author and former presidential candidate is on the eve of launching his new epic book: DAY OR RECKONING: HOW HUBRIS, IDEOLOGY AND GREED ARE TEARING AMERICA APART.
[The book's release date has been moved up to this week. It ranked #237 on AMAZON's hitparade Monday morning.]
This time, Buchanan goes all the way:
"America is in an existential crisis from which the nation may not survive."
The U.S. Army is breaking and is too small to meet America’s global commitments.
The dollar has sunk to historic lows and is being abandoned by foreign governments.
U.S. manufacturing is being hollowed out.
The greatest invasion in history, from the Third World, is swamping the ethno-cultural core of the country, leading to Balkanization and the loss of the Southwest to Mexico.
The culture is collapsing and the nation is being deconstructed along the lines of race and class.
A fiscal crisis looms as the unfunded mandates of Social Security and Medicare remain unaddressed.
All these crises are hitting America at once -- a perfect storm of crises.
Specifically, Buchanan contends:
• Pax Americana, the era of U.S. global dominance, is over. A struggle for global hegemony has begun among the United States, China, a resurgent Russia and radical Islam
• Bush’s invasion of Iraq was a product of hubris and of ideology, a secular religion of “democratism,” to which Bush was converted in the days following 9/11
• Torn asunder by a culture war, America has now begun to break down along class, ethnic and racial lines.
• The greatest threat to U.S. sovereignty and independence is the scheme of a global elite to erase America’s borders and merge the USA, Mexico and Canada into a North American Union.
• Free trade is shipping jobs, factories and technology to China and plunging America into permanent dependency and unpayable debt. One of every six U.S. manufacturing jobs vanished under Bush
• “Sovereign Wealth Funds,” controlled by foreign regimes and stuffed with trillions of dollars from U.S. trade deficits, are buying up strategic corporate assets vital to America’s security
• As U.S. wages are stagnant, corporate CEOs are raking in rising pay and benefits 400 to 500 times that of their workers
• The Third World invasion through Mexico is a graver threat to our survival as one nation than anything happening in Afghanistan or Iraq
* European-Americans, 89% of the nation when JFK took the oath, are now 66% and sinking. Before 2050, America is a Third World nation
• By 2060, America will add 167 million people and 105 million immigrants will be here, triple the 37 million today.
• Hispanics will be over 100 million in 2050 and concentrated in a Southwest most Mexicans believe belongs to them
Buchanan’s Recommendations:
• A new foreign-defense policy that closes most of the 1000 bases overseas, reviews all alliances, and brings home U.S. troops
• A purge of neoconservative ideology and the “Cakewalk” crowd” from national power.
• To avert a second Cold War, the United States should “get out of Russia’s space and get out of Russia’s face,” and shut down all U.S. bases on the soil of the former Soviet Union
• To reach a cold peace in the culture war, Buchanan urges a return to federalism and the overthrow of our judicial dictatorship by Congressionally mandated restrictions on the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
• To end the trade deficits and save the dollar, Buchanan urges a Hamiltonian solution: a 20% Border Equity Tax on imports, with the $500 billion raised to be used to end taxation on American producers
• To prevent America becoming “a tangle of squabbling nationalities” Buchanan urges: No amnesty for the 12-20 million illegal aliens; a border fence from San Diego to Brownsville; Congressional declarations that children born to illegal aliens are not citizens and English is the language of the United States; and a “timeout” on all immigration.
...then you're a liar. Former Bush Press Secretary, Scott McClellan, claims that both Bush and Cheney deliberately misled the American people about the role of White House aides--Scooter Libby, and Karl Rove--in leaking the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
"I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."
If you're not aware, Joseph Wilson, Valerie Plame's husband and former U.S. Ambassador, accused the Bush administration of exaggerating questionable claims about Iraq trying to purchase yellowcake from Nigeria. This was one of the central arguments used to inspire fear in the U.S. population and motivate support for a pre-emptive invasion. Many suspect that Plame's outing was related to Wilson's report.
New York Firefighters and their families are organizing against Rudy Giuliani's claim to be a proven leader by the murderous acts of 9/11. They have a strong case, and they could be Rudy's Swift Boat opposition. All that's needed now is a similar opposition by Christians to Pat Robertson's ridiculous endorsement of Giuliani.
I am fascinated with the human condition--the motives behind what men do. I've sported my personal opinion as to the reasons behind the rising price of gasoline, but I've said little because I really don't know a great deal about the oil and gas industries. However, I do know that men have motives, and until now, the oil industry has said very little about theirs--they've only continued to post record profits.
Much is made of Peak Oil, i.e., that the world's supply of oil has peaked and is now declining. I still don't buy that supposition. Other theories have to do with the Middle East and the U.S. control of the world's oil supply. Some tie this together with the Peak Oil theory supposing that the U.S. military presence in the Middle East is strictly to seize the primary sources of oil in order to better control dependent nations like China and Russia.
Bush promised that proceeds from the flow of Iraqi oil fields would pay for the war. That never happened. Chalk it up as Lie No. 150 from the neoconservatives. I'm reminded of a line from Forrest Gump when after he was shot in the backside the Army told him it was a "million dollar wound." He said, "The Army must keep that million dollars, because I never saw a dime of that money." We never saw a drop of that oil.
So, why the price hikes at the pump? Well, my third-grade explanation was always that rising fuel prices would frustrate the American population to pressure Congress to expand U.S. drilling in the Western Hemisphere, i.e., more drilling in the Gulf, Alaska, and domestic regions. I believed that because I recall that being a primary debate before 2001. Granted, oil companies are raking in huge profits from the rising price of oil, but again, their motives--in my opinion--could not be isolated to short-term thinking. I think they still long for the days of "J.R. Ewing" extracting millions of barrels out of his own backyard. They must want more than record quarterly profits in the short term. There must be a more extensive agenda that reaps billions without inspiring anger in the American people. By that I mean the anger of Joe Citizen at the pump. I doubt the U.S. oil cartels care a rip about Greenpeace. They want the legislation changed, and the Green Movement can whine as much as they want. The majority of Americans will welcome homeland drilling for reduced pump prices.
Here's the CEO of Shell who's now touring America to "listen" to what frustrated citizens have to say. Notice his suggested solution:
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10
Including myself, it is most difficult for conservative Christians to refrain from discussing politics. This is well, good, and understandable. However, we can easily cross the line of Biblical discretion when we sound as if our solutions are primarily political. This makes the objective of the Kingdom a matter of legislation, nationalism, and political control. We must not allow our political concerns to take precedence over our central Kingdom mission. We do not want to become like the statists we criticize.
What then is our goal? Our objective is to reach the "heart" and "mouth" of men and women. The apostle Paul set the target for us in the passage cited above by stating that regeneration--or salvation--is made evident by faith in the heart of man and the corresponding confession made for salvation. This is the heart of the Kingdom message. It is also the long-term solution to all things political, economic, or cultural.
Man cannot reconstruct his world unless he can first "see" the need for expanding the rule of the King. He cannot understand this until he first can "see" the Kingdom itself. This is clearly what our Lord testified as well:
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
No doubt, this Kingdom is spiritual in nature. Our Lord goes on to state unless a man is "born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God" (v. 5). However, the Kingdom finds expression through the regenerated individual in order that the rule of Christ might expand into history. There is a direct connection between 1) the Spirit, 2) the Kingdom, and 3) the changing of history to submit to the reign of God:
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you. Matthew 12:28
Though a man must be born again to see and enter the Kingdom of God, this regeneration is merely the starting point to a new era of spiritual activity. His responsibility is to now cause the Kingdom of God to "come unto" this world by the Spirit of God. The Kingdom comes when the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven (Mt. 6:10).
You cannot reverse the effects of sin and satan by political coercion. Reversing abortion legislation will not remove the murder so pervasive within the heart of man. Nor will sound money alter the larceny (theft) that's also residing in man's being. In fact, man's heart is one grand violation of the Ten Commandments:
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Matthew 15:19
So, while Christians battled to keep Judge Moore's monument bearing the Ten Commandments in the vestibule of his Alabama courthouse, those same commandments had already long before been removed from the vestibules of our hearts. Yes, the Scriptures teach that with salvation the law of God is written on our hearts (Heb. 8:10), but the antinomian preaching of much of mainstream evangelicals has essentially nullified the effectiveness of that law in the wider historical sense. In other words, antinomian Christians--by antinomian I mean those who reject the present validity of God's written law--generally adhere to an ethic that essentially comports with the law. They try not to steal, kill, or commit adultery. However, their limited scope of application is detrimental to the expansion of the Kingdom of God into every sphere.
Am I saying we shouldn't oppose Roe v. Wade? Am I suggesting that political involvement is somehow sinful? Absolutely not. The civil realm needs as much reconstruction as any other sphere. My point is that the political is dominating our thinking to such a degree that we misconstrue the order of God's Kingdom. Last night I sat across the table from a man as we discussed the issues of the Kingdom. I was seeking a form of conversion, viz. his conversion to my way of seeing the faith. My goal was to change his heart and mouth. I wanted to see God's Word and Spirit change the central beliefs of his heart thereby transforming what he communicates and does.
What's wonderful about this mission is that it required no political or legislative support. Our conversation was outside of the jurisdiction of all institutions whether they be church or state. The task of Christian education is found in transforming hearts, mouths, and actions. By doing so, we create the mass constituency that eventually transforms the civil, economic, and cultural realms. We must not lose sight of the simplicity of Kingdom evangelism while we sweat out the 2008 presidential election.
During his farewell speech in 1905, Lord Milner, the presiding member of the elite group of British imperialists seeking to unify all nations under the British flag, spoke idealistically of the fortitude needed to realize what he referred to as "one of the noblest conceptions which has ever dawned on the political imagination of mankind." His statements hold a strong resemblance to the kind of scope of vision so often found in Rushdoony. Milner said:
"What I pray for hardest is, that those with whom I have worked in a great struggle and who may attach some weight to my words should remain faithful, faithful above all in the period of reaction, to the great idea of Imperial Unity. Shall we ever live to see its fulfillment? Whether we do or not, whether we succeed or fail, I shall always be steadfast in that faith, though I should prefer to work quietly and in the background, in the formation of opinion rather than in the exercise of power.... When we who call ourselves Imperialists talk of the British Empire, we think of a group of states, all independent in their local concerns, but all united for the defense of their own common interests and the development of a common civilization; united, not in an alliance--for alliances can be made and unmade, and are never more than nominally lasting--but in a permanent organic union. Of such a union the dominions as they exist today, are, we fully admit, only the raw material. Our ideal is still distant but we deny that it is either visionary or unattainable.... The road is long, the obstacles are many, the goal may not be reached in my lifetime--perhaps not in that of any man in this room. You cannot hasten the slow growth of a great idea like that by any forcing process. But what you can do is to keep it steadily in view, to lose no opportunity to work for it, to resist like grim death any policy which leads away from it. I know that the service of that idea requires the rarest combination of qualities, a combination of ceaseless effort with infinite patience. But then think on the other hand of the greatness of the reward; the immense privilege of being allowed to contribute in any way to the fulfillment of one of the noblest conceptions which has ever dawned on the political imagination of mankind." [Carroll Quigley, The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden (San Pedro, CA: GSG & Associates), 75.]
The men of Milner's group (referred to as "The Kindergarten") were Hellenists to the core, and though they often sported diverse political and economic theories, they stayed together because their group "was founded on political rather than economic ideas and its roots were to be found in ancient Athens rather than in modern Manchester." [Ibid., 132] They "obtained an idealistic picture of classical Greece which left them nostalgic for the fifth century Hellenism and drove them to seek to reestablish that ancient fellowship of intellect and patriotism in modern Britain." [Ibid.]
These men were defenders of ancient tradition and viewed the neo-realization of the antiquated ideals as embodied within the head of Western civilization, i.e., Britain:
Thus, to this Group, Britain stood as the defender of all that was fine or civilized in the modern world, just as Athens had stood for the same values in the ancient world. [Ibid., 133]
Defending from what exactly? "[T]he darkness of theocratic law" [Ibid., 134]:
[T]he institutions of a commonwealth cannot be successfully worked by peoples whose ideas are still those of theocratic or patriarchical society. [Ibid., 135]
The "theocratic law" they referred more to the autocracies of Asia. At the time, the Milner Group was laboring feverishly to reform the nation of India, and the "darkness" of their religious rule would need transformation before the imperial reach of Britain could overshadow the East with their blessing.
However, all theocracies remain an opponent to the one-world commonwealth of Milner's idealism. The conflict lies in "Jerusalem and Athens" and so long as man makes his autonomous reason the starting point to his utopia, God will oppose him at every point.
Christian Reconstruction represents a much different type of theocracy, and although it also adheres to a "patriarchal" form of society--the trustee family--it remains at odds with anything remotely Hellenistic.
This Hellenistic dream preceded Lord Milner. He was the chosen successor to Cecil Rhodes--founder of the Rhodes Scholarships--and Rhodes was the genuine brainchild and initial financier of the British vision. In his first will in 1877, Rhodes wrote:
The extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom and of colonization by British subjects of all lands wherein the means of livelihood are attainable by energy, labour, and enterprise.... the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of a British Empire, the consolidation of the whole Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial Representation in the Imperial Parliament which may tend to weld together the disjointed members of the Empire, and finally the foundation of so great a power as to hereafter render wars impossible and promote the best interests of humanity. [Ibid., 33]
To achieve this, Rhodes founded a secret society in 1891 because he felt that these glorious ideals "could be carried out best by a secret society of men devoted to a common cause." [Ibid., 33] In his "Confession of Faith" in 1875, Rhodes states his model for his secret society on that of the Jesuits saying "[I]n considering questions suggested take Constitution of the Jesuits if obtainable and insert 'English Empire' for 'Roman Catholic Religion.'" [Ibid., 34] Qualified initiates he described in this way:
Men of ability and enthusiasm who find no suitable way to serve their country under the the current political system; able youth recruited from the schools and universities; men of wealth with no aim in life; younger sons with high thoughts and great aspirations but without opportunity; rich men whose careers are blighted by some great disappointment. All must be men of ability and character.... Rhodes envisages a group of the ablest and the best, bound together by common unselfish ideals of service to what seems to him the greatest cause in the world. There is no mention of material rewards. This is to be a kind of religious brotherhood like the Jesuits, "a church for the extension of the British Empire." [Ibid., 34]
The great lesson is always that the humanistic world order is thoroughly religious in its heart and goals. This resurgence of Plato's Republic within Rhodes' secret society soon developed into the first secretive Round Table Group of British aristocrats headed up by Lord Milner. Out of this secret society of Hellenists came the concentric circles of think-tanks notably the Royal Institute of International Affairs and it's American branch, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Out of the CFR have come virtually every well-known politician and national leader including our current Vice-president, Dick Cheney, who kept the fact that he was the Director of the CFR secret while campaigning. See for yourself:
In conclusion, Carroll Quigley is correct: the struggle between the theocrats and the Hellenists "had gone on for thousands of years," and "the distinguishing mark between the two hosts could be found in their views of law--the forces of light regarding law as manmade and mutable, but yet above all men, while the forces of darkness regarded the law as divine and eternal..." [Ibid., 133]
It seems all comprehensive ideologies are seeking some sort of "New World Order." Since 9/11, more people are discussing the New World Order than at any time since George H.W. Bush's speeches of the early 90s. However, the definitions of this world order are varied and confusing. For some, it is a dark vision of global tyranny, but for Rhodes and Milner it represented a revisiting of ancient Greece as the defenders of true liberty--one which is provided by the governance of a ruling class.
However, those combating the New World Order have done so on moralistic grounds. They position the argument on good vs. evil with the obvious bad guys being the rulers, and the good guys being the oppressed masses. However, this moral view is an erroneous one as Rushdoony explains in his discussion of Daniel 7:
The peril of condemning the empires of Daniel's vision, and the present pretenders to the kingdom, on moralistic grounds, is the necessity of repeating their error, for moralism is the very ground and spirit of man's pretensions to the kingdom, power, and glory. [R. J. Rushdoony, Thy Kingdom Come: Studies in Daniel and Revelation, p.50]
On moral grounds, we get what we deserve. The masses are hardly innocent. This is why complaints of inflation are empty. Since man is larcenous in his heart, a larcenous economy is his lot; and inflation is theft. Until we remove the larceny and slavery of our own hearts and minds, we cannot be delivered from fiat currencies and despotism. This is why regeneration is needed. But not only regeneration. Men, women, and children must be taught to reform their lives in terms of God's Word and seek to reconstruct their world in terms of that same revelation. There is no political or economic solution. The solution lies in the heart of the great struggle: man's law, or God's law.
He body slams dispensationalists! This brief article on the self-fulfilling prophecies of Christian Zionists is Gary in his element. He's had me concerned for a while after he started a secondary web site called AllAmericanMovies.com. He now sells more Humphrey Bogart movies than Rushdoony books.
I continue to be astonished at the absolute ignorance of the mainstream media to basic Americanism. I was especially taken back by Bob Schieffer of Face the Nation. This guy is beyond retirement years, so surely he knows more about the founding of America than young wise guys like me. Nope! He needs the The U.S. Constitution for Dummies. He tries to describe Ron Paul's positions as a series of "anti-s", but Dr. Paul beautifully spins them around to a litany of "pro-s." Another good argument was Ron Paul's jujitsu move regarding the slander that his position is "isolationism." He says that what America is engaged in now is "neo-isolationism," i.e., going it alone in bullying the world. Priceless!
After the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, George W. Bush was going to make the NYC Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik, the Head of the newly formed American security apparatus. Before he could be appointed, allegations of Kerik's criminality began to surface. A federal grand jury brought him up on corruption charges--one of which was the employment of an illegal immigrant. However, there were other more serious allegations that prompted Kerik to step aside. He then was appointed as Iraq's Minister of the Interior.
Kerik's stocky build and serious look won him--along with Giuliani--national favor during the fallout after 9/11. However, the propaganda wheels could not spin fast enough to cover the Kerik's criminality.
Now, Kerik has surrendered to Federal authorities on charges of mail and wire fraud, tax fraud, falsifying bank documents, theft, abuse of authority, and defrauding the public. Some allegations show "that, while a city official, he accepted $165,000 in renovations to his Bronx apartment, paid for by a mob-connected construction company that sought his help in winning city contracts."
There is concern that Kerik's indictments could mean bad press for Rudy Giuliani in his presidential bid. I don't see how you can blemish Rudy any more than he's done himself. Giuliani is an obvious criminal. After all, both his father and uncle were in the mafia.
It really doesn't matter how much news comes out about the lies and criminal activity of our nation's highest leaders. Conservatives--especially Christians--REFUSE to believe anything but the best of these thugs. If it were a Democrat, then heads would roll. But a bunch of conservatives engaged in fraud, murder, illegal wars, and homosexuality is swallowed whole by the Religious Right. Pat Robertson epitomizes this with his televised endorsement of the Don Giuliani.
Here's a man with a university supposedly dedicated to training Christians in cultural leadership and Robertson tramples over God's law and the U.S. Constitution by endorsing the cross-dressing, pro-choice, three-time divorcee with mob ties. He did this when the most ardent constitutional defender and dedicated Christian, Ron Paul, is laboring to restore the American Republic. This is the clearest indication that Robertson is as much a part of the Establishment as any other Blue Blood. It's time to turn off the 700 Club.
Ron Paul set a record in online fundraising by hitting $3.75 million by 11:00 p.m. yesterday, and claiming to garner a cool $4.2 million in 24 hours. This record intake unseats Romney's haul, and places Paul directly behind Obama and Hillary for record takes. But, the Religious Right still ignores Congressman Paul, morons like Sean Hannity are under the delusion that it's all a scam by Ron Paul's staff, and sites like RedState.com forbid Ron Paul supporters from participating on their site.
"To the extent that the Christian Right corporately accepts the idea that there is any good reason to get involved in national politics, it is responsible for its share of the outcome. But what share? That of a swing voting bloc. It has not formulated the policies it votes for. It has not organized the media's machine. It does not have any experience at the national level. It does not have much disposable income. It has only one institution of acknowledged excellence: Wycliffe Bible translators. It has sat in the back of humanism's bus since 1926, and without protest until 1980.... There has been only one man in my lifetime who has had an outside possibility of reversing this: Ron Paul. If, in 2008, he offers to his digital name base a full-scale, non-partisan training program for local political mobilization – what I have called the dogcatcher strategy – we might actually get a choice a decade or two from now."
A stream of celebrities have for some time now been questioning the official story of 9/11. The repeated mantra of "truth" activists is "9/11 was inside job!" By this they mean an element within the U.S. government was either responsible for the entire event or at least stood down to allow it to take place. More moderate opinions simply say that the entire truth was never told, and the Bush administration has obstructed the investigation while exploiting the tragedy for the interests of defense manufacturers and oil companies.
To most Americans, the suggestion that the U.S. government willingly murdered the lives of 3,000 innocent citizens is beyond the pale. The very suggestion is unthinkable even by some of the present administration's harshest critics. In other words, Bush and Cheney are evil in their servitude of corporate interests, but they're not that evil!
Yet, nearly a third of the U.S. population now questions the official story. The numbers of skeptics worldwide is incalculable, and the growing support for a 9/11 truth movement seems unabated and likely to increase.
The lesbian Rosie O'Donnell lost her job as host of ABC's "The View" because she repeatedly argued that the 9/11 Commission's findings were full of holes. Charlie Sheen, an outspoken critic of the official story, is supposed to narrate an upcoming re-release of the 9/11 documentary that's been viewed online by well over ten million people: "Loose Change: The Final Cut." This film, financed by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has already seen two versions, and this last one is set to be released this month.
The 9/11 truth seekers also represent a fair amount of the Ron Paul supporters. Congressman Paul has been featured numerous times on the Alex Jones radio program in Austin, Texas. Jones opposed the official story the day it happened, and claims to have predicted a 9/11 type of event in July of 2001. This he allegedly did on one of his weekly cable broadcasts in Austin. It would seem that his claim would be relatively easy to dismiss, since the video clip featured on the previous link shows a cheap video set up for his local broadcast. However, nobody has come forward from the local cable network to deny Jones' claims.
In the Summer of that year, 2001, the recession was fully on. The collapse was on; the political systems were shaken by the collapse. And then, on the famous Sept. 11, someone, with cooperation from inside the highest levels of power in the United States, unleashed an incident which is called the 9/11 incident. That job was done with the complicity of the British Empire. It was done with complicity of elements in Saudi Arabia, as all the evidence would plainly tell you. That was a terrorist act, against the United States, done with complicity of people at a very high level inside the United States, with a coverup organized by people inside, a high level inside the United States.
For most within the mainstream, a cover up of this magnitude is near impossible. How could they possibly keep the hundreds, if not thousands, of people involved, sworn to silence? Truth activists argue that most intelligence operations are "compartmentalized" on a "need to know" basis. Some claim that even Bush himself was unaware of the events coming, but is now guilty by acquiescing to the hidden cabal of power.
However, speculations about involvement is putting the cart before the horse. For this reason, more cool-headed theorists insist upon dealing only with the facts surrounding the events of that infamous day rather than rushing into judgment. Even some of the CIA's most notable agents are questioning the official story. The latest is Robert Baer, one of the most featured ex-agents on television today. His character is the creative basis behind the film "Syriana" starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, and William Hurt. Baer claims that the evidence points to U.S. complicity in 9/11, and he asks why there were no political repercussions after the failure of the government to stop the attacks.
This morning, I was prompted by a published interview with former Pro Bowl center and ex-Dallas Cowboy, Mark Stepnoski. Mark was the center for Troy Aikman during the reigning years of the Cowboys in the early 90s, and is one of the best athletes ever to play the position. During my years of growing up in Dallas, Texas I served Mark Stepnoski many times as a waiter in a local Italian restaurant frequented by numerous players. I've also waited on Troy Aikman, Russell Maryland, Hershel Walker, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, and many others. Stepnoski was a serious sort and loved our crab claws.
What does this have to do with 9/11? In the last question of a lengthy interview with the Erie Times, Stepnoski can't help but discuss his personal skepticism surrounding the official story of 9/11. The question asked was simply, "Anything else you want people to know?" Stepnoski responds by saying:
A. Well, you asked. I've got a lot of things I like to do, I read a lot and travel and all that. I don't even know if you want to get into this, since it's a little bit political in tone. But I'm really interested now in the things the 9/11 truth movement is doing. I guess I could spend a lot time talking about that and cover all kinds of policies and statistics, but I don't know how much people want to know.
It interests me because I don't think we're being told truth about what really happened on Sept. 11, 2001. I'm highly skeptical of government accounts of what really happened. It's one of those things that really won't go away. I've been reading about that event and studying about it a great deal. I've read several books and a lot online pretty much since it happened, just because I'm curious about it and just because of other events in our historical past, like the Kennedy assassination for example.
Before anyone wants to try and pigeonhole me as conspiracy theorist, it's like a lot of things. If you're just willing to scratch beneath the surface and do a little research maybe you can find out some things, maybe more people would be more skeptical about our government's involvement with 9/11.
I used to read a lot of things on one Web site called "From the Wilderness." The site no longer exists. It was run by a guy named Mike Ruppert, who wrote one of the best books on the subject called "Crossing the Rubicon." It came out right after the 9/11 Commission report a few years ago, and I read it right after it came out.
We're being lied to. That's what bothers me the most. There's a lot of evidence in almost any area of the entire event, and you can bring up a lot of inconsistencies and unanswered questions just about the event itself. Two of the three steel-frame buildings that day collapsed due to fire, and that's never happened before, never in history. But that day it happened three times, including one building that didn't get hit by a plane. Building Number 7 didn't get hit by a plane and it went straight down in six and a half seconds. In the vast majority of U.S. cities that would have been the tallest building in the city. It had nothing but a couple of small fires on a couple of floors, but it fell down at free-fall speed in six and a half seconds. There are several engineers and architects who have made the argument that it was a controlled demolition because, again, there's never been a steel building collapse due to fire. So how can it happen three times in one day?
There are many, many other things I could talk about, several inconsistencies we could talk about for a long time. If you read some of the authors like Mike Ruppert and Barrie Zwicker, and look at some Web sites, you can get a fuller account. A whole lot of insider trading occurred beforehand, and that's a huge red flag that there was foreknowledge of the event. There were large financial transactions made ahead of time, a lot of trades made to buy stock in United and American airlines beforehand with the expectation that those stocks were going to go down drastically. A lot of the hijackers from the list released by FBI -- a lot of those guys are alive. Many, many guys on the list are the wrong identity. One guy was a pilot for Saudi Airlines, another guy is living in Lebanon and is suing the U.S. government to clear his name.
I'm compelled because as time goes on there is a greater and greater growing voice among people in areas involved with different aspect of that day. You have pilots speaking about what would be involved with trying to fly a plane into the Pentagon that day in the way that it was portrayed. You have architects and engineers speaking out over the actual explanation that jet fuel could melt steel and cause buildings to collapse. You have former people who worked in the Bush administration or the military who have come forward to express doubt about the official story.
Consider the fact that the Bush administration really fought the formation of the 9/11 Commission the whole way. It fought over who was going to head it and who was going to be on it. Initially Henry Kissinger was supposed to be the chairman, but he stepped aside because of conflict of interest issues. The commission didn't come together until a year and a half after the event. ... And you think about how the government spent $15 million on the commission to investigate 9/11, which sounds like a lot. But then you make the comparison that the government spent $40 million to investigate the Monica Lewinsky affair. I certainly share a lot of those views.
Stepnoski highlights some of the basic anomalies of 9/11, and these questions continue to provide fuel to the already raging inferno of conspiracy theorists. This story is not going away any time soon, and the likelihood of a massive resistance movement growing within the U.S. has never been stronger. This is nothing like the opposition to Vietnam, since Vietnam fit the mold of a standard war, and was not precipitated as quickly based upon an event like 9/11. There was the Gulf of Tonkin incident, but this was nothing in comparison to Pearl Harbor. 9/11 is Pearl Harbor, and then some!
If millions of Americans believe that elements within the U.S. government were directly responsible for the events of 9/11, it's difficult to predict the outcome of social unrest--especially if even more draconian security measures are enforced on the U.S. population. For this reason, it seems wise that the Bush administration would allow a new and independent investigation into 9/11. Without one, there is no conceivable way--outside of brute force--to subside the growing skepticism of U.S. citizens to the official story. Without a new investigation, Bush may be forced to implement similar emergency policies as that initiated by Musharraf in Pakistan this weekend. How else can you quell the obvious outrage of a mass of the U.S. population that believes its government is guilty of murder and fraud?
This unrest is a ticking time-bomb, and dismissing these millions as "whackos" and "nutjobs" is hardly a remedy. Too many sober minds are now questioning the 9/11 Commission, and there is likely many more that will surface as they feel more emboldened to do so. It doesn't take a prophet to see where this is headed. With more war on the horizon, and frustration setting in from rising gas prices, increasing surveillance, illegal immigration, the collapsing housing market, and the devaluation of the dollar, we're looking at all the elements for the "Perfect Storm."
For the Christian, conspiracies are a part of humanism (Ps. 2) and its resistance to the rule of Christ. Should then the American Christian simply react in revolt at the suggestion that U.S. elements are capable of such atrocities? After all, we have no problem believing any other country would commit such criminalities. For me, I'm not surprised. I begin with the doctrine of total depravity, and it's my assumption that total depravity actually means total depravity! I'm not merely a Calvinist when it comes to the sin of humanity, but then Pelagian when it comes to assessing the actions of U.S. officials. Sinners sin. It's unbiblical to say otherwise.
Pelagianism in political judgment blinds us to constructing the truth regarding persons or events. You simply cannot begin an investigation with the presupposition that certain individuals are incapable of criminality. In fact, in most homicides involving a spouse, the usual suspects are the other spouse, since they often have the most to gain. And therein lies the real question: "Who benefits?" Have defense manufacturers suffered as a result of 9/11, or have they reaped record profits? Have oil companies suffered as a result of 9/11, or have they reaped untold billions? Has America's imperial reach expanded or retracted? Are we now in a better position to dominate the Middle East? Why else would we be building the largest embassy in history in Iraq?
These are serious questions that must be answered, and blindness due to a Pelagian view of Americanism is what may be protecting a criminal enterprise. For this reason, we need the full truth surrounding the single event which everyone claims has "changed the world forever." Public animosity will boil as the stonewalling and ridicule continues. A simple investigation would go a long way to easing the tempers.
First they tried to sever his umbilical cord. Then they cut the mother's placenta in half so that the one baby's death would not affect the other twin. He weighed less than a pound, and the doctors predicted he'd never make it. To save the other twin, they tried to kill the sickly one. He wouldn't die. What could they do? They called him "Rocky." He's doing fine.
I've read numerous articles and blog postings suggesting the Religious Right is dead in the water. I've also read more measured luminaries cautioning such a quick declaration. For some, the Religious Right is merely regrouping after the disappointing performance of the Bush administration, the death of Falwell and Kennedy, and a slew of moral failures. Either way, secular critics are still missing the larger issue, and they do so because they understand little about what makes Bible believers tick.
First, secularists are statists. Plain and simple. When they write, they write about politics. When they express concern over other issues, their solution is still political. Everything is viewed in terms of the state. Therefore, their war with conservative Christianity is a political one. They feel that if they can keep a religious conservative out of the White House, or balance the bench of the Supreme Court with a strong pro-choice constituency, then they feel they have somehow secured a victory over fundamentalism. This will always be their biggest mistake.
The political involvement of Christians should never be confused with their faith. The Religious Right is a social manifestation of the most dedicated type of faith commitment. A Christian is involved in politics because of what they believe, not because they believe in politics. Secularists, on the other hand, are political to the core because they are statist to the core. Since man is ultimate authority, the organization of man's will finds expression in the state, which represents the collective will. The only way to eradicate or neutralize fundamentalist participation in society is to undermine the faith that inspires the participation. It's the only way.
So, if all things go Democrat in the ensuing elections, it will matter little. The power of faith in the Christian message is intoxicating as much as it is hated. The concept of Christ's dominion being established in every sphere of life is slowly gaining ground over the end times mania of apocalyptic Christianity. Therefore, the future will be filled with an even greater population of dominionists.
For some reason, isolated secularists think that defending sodomites and the slaughter of unborn children will somehow resonate with the mass of the U.S. population. These poor saps are spending way too much time in the "urbania" of multicultural cities. They can't quite grasp why mainstream America turns it stomach when they see looping clips on cable news of same-sex couples kissing. The secularists see these images and they shed the tears of civil rights. America sees these queers and reaches for the Pepto-Bismol.
And, a good many Americans love their children, and don't care for the killing of unborn. Sure, they might be equally disgusted by a televangelist, but their basic moral structure--in general--wants life to be preserved and the gay parade to march back into the closet. Granted, they're not looking for an overtly "Christian" America, but that is by no means an endorsement of the sewage spewing out of the more "open-minded" cities.
In this sense, moral conservatism will always win the day even amongst the more economic Democrats of mainstream America; and the Religious Right focuses on a moral platform. However, it's more than morality that shapes the political Christian--it's faith. And this type of faith is missing from secularism.
Therefore, secularists--in order to win the culture war--must resort to that which they accuse the Religious Right of doing: coercion through the state. They have to outlaw prayer in public places. They have to remove Christian symbols. They'll seek to regulate homeschoolers, and force Christians to fund the public school system. This is tyranny; and it's a tyranny that will only galvanize the millions of dedicated Christians already disgusted with the fruits of humanism.
The "Religious Right" is simply a description of the political arm of conservative Christianity, but it is by no means their base of power. The real power lies in their faith; and when mixed with a strong sense of action, that faith will dominate the next 2,000 years even more so than the last. Secularism is doomed.
Much is written--especially by yours truly--of the Big Brother surveillance state in America. But, an even greater phenomenon is underway: the Rise of "Little Brother." This is an army of ordinary citizens armed with handheld and cell phone cameras that are coordinating operations all over America targeting Establishment politicians and intellectuals on the lies of this administration, new investigations into 9/11, and opposing any new wars. These courageous Americans of every political, religious, and cultural ilk are turning their cameras on Big Brother and routing the rats back to their holes.
What a delight to see the fascistic neocon architect, Norman Podhoretz, get closelined by a platoon of Little Brother.
Mad Max Blumenthal has infiltrated yet another Christian Right political event and brought back video of the experience. This time his target was the Value Voters Summit, and ironically, he titled the video "Theocracy Now!" We must be on the same creative wave length, or Max is borrowing from my creative capital (See our May/June issue).
I had to chuckle at the part featuring Brandon Vallorani of American Vision. After spending a few years working on the marketing end of Ken Ham's Answers in Genesis, he's quickly learning playing spokesperson for a reconstructionist organization ain't all it's cracked up to be. Creationism is much safer territory, and Brandon looked at little unsure in handling Max's straightforward questioning about capital punishment for sodomy. Get used to it, bro!
Also memorable was Max's discussion with Lou Sheldon who was foolish enough to endorse the heterosexuality of the foot-tapping Larry Craig. I wasn't surprised. Lou Sheldon previously stated that he was well aware of Ted Haggard's homosexuality long before it was exposed, but did nothing about it.
A recent USA Today poll showed that 72% of those Americans polled are not happy. War and the economy are the primary culprits, but one woman said, "I think we've somehow lost our way." Susan Page, the author of this article, said "Not since April have even one-third of Americans been happy with the country's course, the longest national funk in 15 years."
I would agree that "national funk" is a better way to describe the tenor of the present American spirit, i.e., the issue is much larger than war and economics. The fulcrum of the West is breaking down, and even the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is struggling to assume any leadership. And even if they did, the level of distrust of religious leaders and institutions is too great.
The American Bubble was popped on 9/11, and the patriotic indulgence that ensued has steadily declined since then. Now, every succeeding crisis and national turmoil compounds the already devastated American psyche. And it matters little which side of the political aisle you find yourself. The long-standing assurance of the American soul has systematically been reduced to a level of frustration, grief, doubt, and anger. Worse yet, the optimism tank is being depleted, and any shift of political authority will likely serve only as a short-lived "fix" for the national patient.
However, to those whose faith lies in the sovereign Creator of heaven and earth, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice!" Let not the Christian American be counted amongst those living under this national funk. We are commanded to occupy ourselves with praise and thanksgiving--"the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name"--for our lives are not shaped by a national mood, but by the Spirit of the living God. We set our minds on things above in order that our heavenly vantage point will aid us in shaping both our lives and our society:
Arise, shine: for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. Isaiah 60:1-2
America is sorrowful because she reaps for her transgressions. America is sorrowful over the negative circumstances she now must swallow down to the dregs. But, America is not sorrowful for her sin. She is not sorrowful that she has departed from her Maker, nor that she has grieved His Spirit. And the circumstances are not severe enough to adjust her attitude. Godly sorrow should lead to repentance, and at this point, we have neither.
