Donald J. Trump will be our President for at least the next 4 years. His promise to “Make America Great Again” is meaningless until the underlying promises are actually implemented. The battle for the future of America is not an economic battle. It is not a social battle. It is not even a moral battle, or a political battle. The battle for the future of America is truly a spiritual battle. Yes, there are significant issues in each of those other areas I mentioned. DJT can appoint the most conservative justices, boost jobs and trade and education, strengthen our military, drain the political swamp, make our streets safer, stem the flow of illegal aliens, – he can impact most aspects of our daily American lives. But if the heart of our citizenship is not turned towards God, all those improvements will be just a futile effort to save our country.

There will still be a powerful core of subversive, perverted, corrupt, godless people out there just waiting their chance to take back the controls of our Nation. Yes, this country needs all those political promises to be fulfilled from Mr. Trump. But what we need more is a Christian revival – the likes of which have not been seen since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on that Wittenburg church door. A second Reformation would secure America’s future better than all the promises of politicians.

I would agree that Mr. Trump is not the Answer to America’s problems. God is.

Frank

60-day UPDATE:  March 9, 2017:  When I said there “will still be a powerful core of subversive, perverted, corrupt, godless people out there just waiting their chance to take back the controls of our Nation”, I never dreamed those who are already in all departments of our government would be so subversive and seditious. This is getting scary, folks. We have treasonous actions happening daily against our government, specifically against the Trump administration. Anarchy or civil war is right around the corner if we don’t clean the swamp swiftly and thoroughly.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” Isaiah 5: 20-21

Have you noticed how all the left’s attempts to discredit Trump have backfired? The ridiculous recount effort gave Trump MORE votes, not less. The equally stupid Electoral College revolt took more votes from her than from him. Spewing blame on everyone without taking personal responsibility for their loss, as an attempt to discredit the validity of the election, has turned the American people against the liberals, not against Trump. More and more people can now see the liberal left for the hateful, close-minded, subversive extremists that they are.

Since the beginning of the election season, the liberal left (politicians, celebrities, main stream media) have concocted strawman stories about their opposition, using name-calling as their primary strategy. They spewed this nonsense so loudly, and forcefully, that they actually began to believe their own lies. They create a false picture of a horrible, hateful person doing terrible atrocities against humanity, and then actually believe their own false narrative (all the while not realizing they are describing themselves). While they pursue this nonsense, the rest of the country watches as Trump keeps jobs from leaving the country, hires the strongest cabinet assembled in recent history, and sends the stock market soaring based on optimism about the future of our country.

The dichotomy could not be more obvious.

I am so sick and tired of quietly sitting by listening to and reading all the vitriol coming out of the liberal left. Here is what upsets me so…

For eight years the left has refused to hold itself accountable. Having once declared their dissent patriotic, dissent for the last eight years has been called homophobic, bigoted, and racist. Conservatives and people of faith have been hounded from their jobs, silenced, and punished for refusing to go along with the left’s agenda. The left demanded cultural homogeneity and is outraged that Americans refuse to go along with their anti-Christian secular agenda.

On Tuesday, Americans had enough and decided to seek fundamental change.

Today, the left is protesting in the streets because of American democratic action. The left accuses Donald Trump of totalitarianism, but it is the left refusing to accept a democratic act. The left blasted Trump for suggesting the election was rigged. But they are okay with protesting a fair election and declaring it illegitimate because they hate the outcome.

Wednesday night, their chickens came home to roost. Professional leftwing activists who have no skill other than agitation have trained a large group of people to do nothing but protest. Instead of trying to unite the country, they have flown into hysterics and temper tantrums.

A week ago the Democratic Party insisted that everyone must accept the legitimacy of the election. What we are seeing today is that much of the left think that, like so many other things, it is a one way street. This is what happens when you presume the worst about your neighbor. The left may love humanity as a concept, but they are prone to think the absolute worst of their neighbors and that contempt for those who see things differently is on full display in the streets of America.

The two overriding emotions on display are anger (hate) and fear. Voting is not hate speech, it is democracy in action. It is obvious to any clear thinking person, that every accusation coming from the left is a reflection of their own attitudes and actions. It has been admitted that the so called “alt-right Trump supporters” were paid Democratic thugs, inserted to make Trump look bad. Yet the left continues to accuse conservatives of being racist. The opposite is true. It’s the left that spouts the racist language at every turn. They have lied for so long, that 1) they are incapable of telling the truth, and 2) they believe their own lies.  I am sick of it.

The upcoming election is no less than a battle for the U.S. Constitution and our nation as we know it. The separation of powers was established to prevent a small group of individuals from dictating laws, enforcing religious (or anti-religious) bias, and enacting policy without representation of the people, for the people, and by the people. Our SCOTUS has routinely usurped the power of both houses of congress by creating new laws not supported by the majority of Americans.

The next POTUS will nominate the next two Supreme Court Justices, which will sway the balance of power in the SCOTUS one way or the other. That balance will determine what kind of country we have for the next generation. Trump has vowed to nominate justices that will uphold the constitutional separation of powers. Clinton has vowed to destroy the separation of powers, clearing the way to render the legislative branch of government powerless. Add to that a POTUS that will use the presidential mandate to further her stated personal agenda for “a hemispheric zone of free trade and open borders” (read that as the elimination of national boundaries – both politically and economically) and the U.S. will cease to exist under it’s present constitution.

This election has turned into a war for our very existence as a nation.

Thank God that He is in control. No matter what we have to endure in this life, I long to be with Him in His Kingdom.

This election year is certainly nerve-wracking for anyone who cares about our country. The nation is completely polarized, right down the middle. The two primary candidates are Crude and Corrupt, easily the two most disliked (hated) candidates to face each other in the history of our democracy.

A number of critical issues face our nation: the economy, jobs, trade, national debt, national security, etc. As critical as all those are, I believe the biggest issue facing Americans today is who picks the next two or three Supreme Court Justices?

For decades now, our Supreme Court has overstepped its jurisdiction by creating legislature through its rulings. Our republic was founded on the brilliant application of separation of powers into the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government. The separation of powers prevents a small group (oligarchy) from taking control of the country. The legislative branch is supposed to be of the people, for the people, and by the people when writing and approving our laws. The 9-person Court has routinely usurped that authority by enacting its own set of laws imposed on the country without representation of the people.

These “rulings” are decidedly anti-Christian, catering almost exclusively to the special interest groups who oppose common decency and morality.

My fear is that the next president (who will appoint two or three of the Justices) will select young anti-Christian lawyers, who will sit on the bench for an entire generation, redefining the Constitution to fit their agendas, effectively rendering the legislative branch useless – and thereby ending a government “of the people, for the people, and by the people”.

As a Christian, I can only view such a scenario as God’s judgment on a nation that has thrown him out completely. He has been withdrawing his hand of blessing and protection for a long while now. He is about to enact his judgment on us.

It does not matter whether Crude or Corrupt is elected. If this nation does not fall on its face in mourning and repentance, and turn back to the God of our fathers, it will not survive this presidency. And that scares me to death. Our problems are not socio-economic. Our problems are not liberal vs conservative. Our problems are spiritual, between us (both individually and as a nation) and God.

What we need is a powerful national spiritual revival, a turning back to God; an acknowledgement that all authority is given by God to be used for Good. And neither Crude nor Corrupt will take us there.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

With the turmoil of the national elections upon us, I am reminding myself more and more to Trust the Lord. We are living in a deeply bifurcated nation (literally, split in two). Let me list the qualities of the two primary candidates:

One is a pathological liar with total disregard for national security.  The other is an egocentric bully who delights in insulting just about everyone. Both are, to a large degree, chameleons who change colors with their surroundings. Both pose great risks to our nation, and both are disliked by the majority of our nation’s citizens. Strangely, each has followers that will completely ignore their candidate’s faults and mistakes, simply because they hate the other candidate. If there was ever an election for “the lesser of two evils”, this is it.

The selection of a President is never a cure-all for what ails our nation. Sure, they have great power to influence the direction in which the nation is headed, but the real solution lies in the spiritual health of our nation’s citizens. Our only hope for the restoration of America’s greatness is in the revival of Christian virtues throughout our population. We have thrown the Christian God out of our government, education system, and all public places. Without God’s protective hand over us, without God’s guidance to our nation’s leaders, without God’s principles setting the boundaries for accepted behavior, we are doomed to national decline and all sorts of amoral behaviors.  It is only through a spiritual reawakening that our nation has any hope for a brighter future.

Frank

I woke up this morning with the thought that there is a big difference between compassion and tolerance.

When I talk with my liberal friends (yes, I have several), they point out that conservatives are not very compassionate, whereas liberals are very compassionate. That conservatives are judgmental at best, and bigots at worst. They claim we are not very tolerant of other’s lifestyles. By and large, liberals equate “conservatives” with “evangelical Christians.” While I agree that many evangelical Christians are more judgmental than compassionate (to our shame), I would also argue that to be a true Christian requires one to be less tolerant of other lifestyles. Let me explain:

Being judgmental is to hold yourself above the person you are judging. The thinking goes like this: “I hold to a standard of behavior, and you have not met that standard.” In other words, “I am better than you.” There is a lot of confusion over a Christian’s responsibility to judge. The Bible tells us in some places not to judge, and other places to judge. Here is the difference: We are not to judge those outside the faith – that is for the Lord to do. We are to judge those who claim to be Christian, but continue to live in sin. Most people do not understand or practice this distinction.

Being compassionate is to be understanding in a way that offers comfort and relief. Jesus was the picture of compassion. We can all do better at this.

Being tolerant is to look the other way when someone does wrong. Think about it: what is it that we “tolerate”? “Tolerate” implies wrong behavior! This is the word the liberals have redefined: their “tolerance” means to accept someone’s lifestyle when it is different from your own. That definition ignores the Christian’s responsibility to call out sin for what it is.  By changing “wrong” to mean “different”, they are trying to remove the guilt factor from their consciences. They are asking Christians to go along with that, and we cannot. Our Lord was and is very intolerant of sin.

So when the liberals want us to be more tolerant, they are asking us to look the other way when they are doing wrong. They make it sound like tolerance is a good thing, a necessary thing for us all to get along. The problem is, a Christian cannot be tolerant of sin. We can be compassionate toward sinners; we can and should be less judgmental (See Philippians 2: 1-5); but we should not condone sin (aka be tolerant toward sin).

In truth, it is the liberals who are very intolerant of Christians. They are guilty of the very thing they charge us with. Our liberal courts are already intolerant of Christians by ruling against Christian businesses who refuse to serve homosexuals, or refusing to allow challenges to evolution, or throwing all mention of God out of public places.

So the next time you hear claims of “intolerance”, consider which definition they are using…

Frank

This election year certainly highlights how far we have strayed from the standards of conduct established by our founding fathers. On one side, we have someone who is a pathological liar with no grip whatsoever on the realities facing our nation. On the other, we have a pathological bully who cannot pass up an opportunity to spew insults toward anyone who crosses his path.

If you can persevere beyond the lies and insults, the differences are like night and day.

One wants to let all refugees in to include terrorists, the other wants to shut down our borders until we can sort out who the terrorists are (a seemingly impossible task).

One says the country is doing wonderfully, the other points to crises in our national defense, economy, education, and balance of trade.

One wants to promote dependency on the government at the expense of those who work, and the other wants to bring jobs back from overseas so everyone can work.

One is the poster child for “politically correct”, the other is the antithesis of “politically correct”.

One wields the media like an arsenal, the other takes the beating from that arsenal.

One is backed by everyone who believes they are entitled to a comfortable life, the other is backed by those who are tired of paying for those so-called entitlements.

Both want to run a campaign based largely on discrediting the other.  While this strategy is nothing new, these two have taken it to a new extreme.

A nationally syndicated columnist recently wrote “The election is Trump’s to lose.” And he is doing a fine job of it, from what I can tell. Message to Trump: Stop insulting everyone, concentrate on the national issues, and you’ll win.  Message to Clinton: Go to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

… which is why I am liking Donald Trump more and more: Trump is taking on the political establishment head on.

Yes, he is arrogant. Yes, he comes across as a bully. Those are the reasons I have been very slow to show any support for him as the conservative candidate. But after last night’s acceptance speech, I am on board with Trump. He gave a very passionate (and at times, compassionate) message of America First. It was obvious he is going after the votes of those who feel slighted or disadvantaged under the current regime. I would like to see the GOP specifically going after the black and Latino voters more, because his message hits them right where many of them live. The fact is that no presidency or party  in my lifetime has really helped our inner cities in terms of education, crime, employment. The Democrats have thrown tax payer dollars into food stamps that only encourage dependency on the government, thus ensuring an enduring voting base. But that does nothing to improve their quality of life, and bring them into the middle class. Historically, the Republicans have done even less for our inner cities. It is good to hear Trump wanting to change that.

As far as foreign policy, there is no comparison between Trump and his opponent. We have had the finest military in the world for many years. However, the military is only as effective as the politicians will allow them to be. We could have ended terrorism in 1990, but the military was never allowed to finish the job. Somehow, I believe Trump will allow the job to be finished. Unapologetically.

I personnally knew a retired Army general who owned 5000 acres in Arizona, whose southern fence was the border with Mexico. He constantly had to patrol his land to dispose of the dead bodies of illegal immigrants who died trying to sneak into our country. He estimated that 1500 people made their way into America across his land per year. I understand compassion for people who are hoping for a better life. But I also understand that unconstrained influx of the world’s poor will crush our schools, hospitals, and job markets.  Then there is the whole refugee issue. I completely agree that we cannot allow those refugees in until we have a way to positively sort out the legitimate refugees from those who will do us harm. Americans are worse off because we have not enforced our immigration laws. Period. So Trump’s message to control immigration is a welcome one.

The media continues to denigrate Trump’s message by telling half-truths and lies. What I heard was a man who is unashamedly Patriotic, and has a solid grasp on the problems facing our nation, and also has the internal fortitude to do something positive about those problems.

As my time draws closer to retirement, I am finding myself doing a lot more research than I had anticipated. With multiple sources of income, I had to make sure that some did not offset others. Some forms of income offset Social Security, some do not. Had to do some research. Some of the calculations are not explained well for Civil Service retirement. Gotta research. Then there is the whole issue of Healthcare. I qualify for VA, but Deb does not, so we will probably stick with TRICARE, which has been very good for us. But TRICARE FOR LIFE has a different set of rules and deductibles. More research. Then there is the Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP – which is sizable, but has significant restrictions on how you can use that money. More research. Add to these things the actual process of a Civil Service Retirement, which is the ultimate example of government bureaucracy with dozens of forms to wade through and decisions to be made. Lots more research. It’s a wonder anyone in federal service actually gets retired! No wonder there is a significant number of deaths shortly after retirement! By the time you retire, you are exhausted from the process. So please forgive me if I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything for a week after retirement, whenever that is. I’ll be in recovery.

Oh, and I wrote a new poem going through the process of retirement….