I have to raise a serious concern. Reading on Free Republic. Ralph Nader is trying to decide whether to run for President and is asking for advice from his supporters. Some Freepers are proposing that conservatives lie and deceive Mr. Nader into believing that he has thousands of supporters willing to vote for him no matter what, when the fact is that they would rather eat glass than vote Mr. Nader.

I seriously think that this dishonesty is wrong. We don't have to take the low road of American politics to win. What's being proposed by many Conservatives in this as well as in turning out to boost the campaigns of Al Sharpton and Howard Dean is bad for our Republic. The integrity of the two party system is vital and members of both parties are behaving in such a disreputable way as to destroy it's integrity.

I also question the wisdom of voting for people based on some strategic motives, because we don't know what tomorrow holds. The New Hampshire Republicans who for a few weeks has joined the Democratic Party to vote for Dean may find himself regretting it, when/if his "choice" wins the General election. How would a German feel if he voted for the "Nazi's" as a strategic move?

This is all quite silly too as you really only have one vote and one vote will not make the difference between winning and losing for anybody in 99% of elections. So go out vote honestly and vote your conscience.

I've been daydreaming a lot after reading this article. If American Candidate happens, I'd very much like to be a candidate, it'd be my "big break" potentially. If I could make it onto the show, it would give me a forum to share my views as well as an opportunity to educate the American public on issues of great concern.

If I could win or finish in the top three, it'd provide enough exposure to help strengthen my writing and political careers. Is the idea too fantastic? I might just be disqualified because of age, but as they may not be concerned with having a candidate who is ready to serve in 2005 and may open it up for more people. It may be silly, but let me dream.

I receive the most ironic e-mail ever from We the People reminding us that gifts to We the People are tax deductible. One of the big premises of We the People is that the income tax itself is illegal and that we don't have to file our taxes or do withholding. It's sort of like Green Peace telling everyone to drive their SUVs to the next meeting.

Being at AmericanDaily.com, I'm honored to write on same board as Ryan Thompson, a 17 year old Conservative writer in Pennsylvania. I'm not that much older than he (6 years), but I take issue slightly with his latest column. In his column, he writes,

I am willing to ignore the increase in governmental spending because of the Global War on Terrorism because I know freedom is not free and that fighting for it is very expensive.

Now, I take issue with Thompson on this point. We can tolerate the President's increase, but we cannot ignore it. Conservatives are not going to except uninterrupted out of control growth of the government anymore they'll except unlimited abortion.

We can't let this lead us to destructive actions, but we have to plan to elect more Conservative members of Congress and a President in 2008 who will stand for less government and more freedom.

I have to say that FreeRepublic.com is getting a little a picky. I tried to post my article from AmericanDaily.com and was informed that the site did not welcome comment from AmericanDaily.com. I instead posted an excerpt from the Blog and was informed that items from blogspot.com belong in General Interest and wouldn't do an override. I'll have to wait until I get home to upload the file as HTML to adamsweb.mysitespace.com

I don't get how they can on one hand not WELCOME the work of myself, Jonathan David Morris, and others on FreeRepublic.net but not allow it when it's on Americandaily.com. It makes no sense to me.

It's been a long time, too long since my last post. I've made innumerable updates to The Screwtape Report and my politics page, as well as a number of Baseball columns. The Baseball isn't fully update, should be soon. I also updated my work biography .

One of my political columns was quoted extensively by one of the top blogs on the net. The Publisher of Solport says my column on Howard Dean's southern comments echo the views of his wife, who is a Southerner.

I wrote this from the perspective of not being a Southerner. There used to be a time when I was bothered whenever I saw the Confederate Flag. It still bugs me in some contexts. It probably doesn't belong over the South Carolina Capitol, but the Southern bashing is getting out of hand. It's become an obsession of liberals to attack this region of our Country with a ferocious vengeance and it's wrong. The Democrats are the true bigots today.

Random thought:

I saw a diversity and inclusion class at work today. I wonder if anyone's been thrown out of an inclusion class and if so does that make them non-inclusive?

I'd like you to see the entire Rush Limbaugh case in a different light. Rush Limbaugh is many things. If it is true, it's not on the same level as something done by a political leader. Rush is an entertainer much like Johnny Cash. Cash was a beloved and respected American entertainer whose greatest struggle was with booze and pills.

Rush is not a preacher, he's a talk show host. If he did do it, all he needs to do is admit and he'll be forgiven by everyone but the mainstream press.

I do not believe for one moment the allegations raised against Rush Limbaugh. The sad state of American politics is becoming apparent. Today, people who run on the Republican side are subjected to a complete investigation of the entirety of their personal lives. The Democrats are the greatest practitioners of this politics of personal destruction.

Looking at General Clark's entry into the presidential race and the statements of General Shelton, Conservatves did not seek to find out what issues of character led Shelton to declare he would not vote for Clark. Most issues that have been raised have been on the General's record.

I fear for our Republic when as conservatives, we allow the media to require that our leaders have angelic past. As Madison said, "If men were angels, we would not need government.

Well I kept to the Tae Bo result three days in a row. That's something for me. I've got to keep it up. I've got to say focused. I've got to keep at it, for my health's sake.

I've started training for my new job in Boise. It's a fun work environment with great benefits. I'll write (a little) bit more about it when I update my work bio. I certainly won't write everything. Again, my opinion is that it's unprofessional to gripe about your current job and being a kiss-up doesn't do any good.

Your prayers are appreciated. The city of Boise is full of opportunities, but I haven't found the place I fit in, in the local body of believers. I don't know where I should go or what I should do. I'm also desperate for a chance to preach.

I miss Montana. I miss knowing people who would be there consistently, of knowing my place, even though it was limited. Everything is so wide open here, I don't know what to do.

Also put in the Tae Bo 8 minute workout. Boy, it really did the trick. I felt better afterwards. At the end of the tape Blanks said that even though you may not have 20 minutes, you surely do have 8 minutes to take care of your health. He's write. I'll try and Tae Bo every day.

Watched the Time Machine with my wife (the new one starting Jeremy Irons). It was okay. My big problem with it was how the Earth was destroyed. Ready? It was blasting on the moon to create moon colonies. Supposedly, it blew apart the moon and destabilized the Earth's orbit. I'm not a scientist, but I'm pretty darn sure that's pretty close to impossible.

Stand Up For The Flathead

This is my challenge to citizens of the Flathead Valley: Stand up for the Flathead. No, not the Flathead as idealized by leftist anti-development beatniks but as place where people can make a living and young families can survive. All over people have told me that they're sad about my departure. But I wasn't the first and I certainly won't be the last.

Of my 2002 graduating class at FVCC, most had already. The only one I saw after graduation was Heidi Rhodes, who received her A.S. in Criminal Justice and landed the dream job of Stream International Security Guard before leaving for New York where she could get work.

There can be economic opportunity but citizens need to stand up against the extreme anti-development crowd. FVCC is a great college, but to be honest, it's not really helping the Flathead. You're training other communities police officers, businessman, and network administrators. You're not training people to work and pay for the education that was financed through property taxes, because there was no way they can make a reasonable living there.

Wake up and stop Citizens for a Better Flathead or it's young people will continue to be the Flathead's greatest export.

Saying goodbye is a hard thing for me. Some people say they don't like goodbyes. Even though they hurt, I do. I think they're important, especially when you've known people for a while. Some good friends of mine left Montana to go to California, and we didn't get to say goodbye. It feels like there wasn't closure.

At the church I was attending in addition to Living Water Christian Fellowship, they prayed over us and had cake. People who I'd said barely a word to in the year and a half I'd gone there, let me know that I'd blessed them. It was very humbling and I felt very loved.

My mom cried when I hugged her goodbye. My brother didn't. To be an honest, I don't think he cries at all. My dad drove the Ryder truck down to Boise, which was a good thing, cause I could not have driven that truck, towing my Mazda behind me on that tow bar, or even without the Mazda. After we unloaded and returned the truck, I drove my dad to the airport.

He had this silly little rhyme he always tried to coax me into reciting. It got embarrassing after I turned eight (thus why I'm not posting it), so I stopped doing it. Without coaxing, I hugged him and said it at the airport as we both were crying.

I miss my family, but I think I've got a good perspective on it. Even though it's sad, it's part of growing up, of coming into my own. Of finding God's perfect will for my life. I often felt like a Prophet without Honor in Kalispell. I was too well known, I'd been there too long (since I was 12) and been a political agitator for far too long. People there had seen me grow up which was part of the problem.

Kalispell is a town where people come to relax. I've poured my heart out more times than I could count trying to get an event organized and got little to no response. Anyone organizing anything other than the Liberal busybodies "Citizens for a Better Flathead" will tell you that getting anything organized is like pulling teeth.

If you go down to Western Montana in the Summer tp see Glacier National Park, visit the Miracle of America Museum. It's $3.00 to get in and well worth the price of admission (especially given what tourist traps around Glacier charge).

You enter the museum and it takes a full hour or more to get through all the stuff in there. Let me tell you it's a great collection of historical items, including plenty of World War II posters and memrobillia. They even have a tank and an old car in there. Also, they have several old machines that work including an early video game from the 1960s, as well as several music playing machines from the early 20th Century.

Once you get into the cafe portion of the museum, you may think it's over. You could be more wrong. Because through the back door is the yard, full of historical stuff. They have made historical buildings with schools (the school had a NEA newsletter from teh 1940s talking about the importance of religion in school). Also had a lot of stuff out there. The only negative about the museum is that the yard is very eclectic. It has the stereotypical design of a redneck's back yard, but few rednecks have Fighter Jets, Tanks, and Helicopters on their front yard.

You can't sit on a lot of the cool equipment, the tanks and fighter jets are sealed, but you can sit in the helicopter and there's a huge tug boat you can climb on.

More than that, the museum is very conservative and it will remind you why you should be proud to be an American.

I've moved to Boise and there's a lot to write about. Boise is quite a city. I went downtown to visit the Job Service. The Skyline of the City really impressed me. You would never know how big Boise as you drive into it. It's all hilly and rustic. Inside though, it's a thriving and growing city. I know it's also probably big, cold, and cruel. But, right now I'm just impressed

What you're seeing in Alabama is remarkable. Don't miss this. Despite all of the whining about the rule of law and how Judge Moore isn't following it., what 's more remarkable is how peaceful everything is staying in the state. No riots, just prayerful protests. Compare to that to what happens when the left doesn't get its way.

zIs reading comprehension a lost art? I mean it. I recently posted a column analyzing America's situation and suggested that were headed for a Civil War and people suggest I'm advocate a Civil War. I'm not. I think that if we can't resolve our pproblems peacefully, future generations will curse us. No one wants a Civil War but it may be coming if we don't address in a serious way the issues of judicial supremacy.
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Recently, I also wrote a Short Story about a man who killed an abortion doctor and I was assailed as if I supported the conduct when the article condemned it. My friends, people need to be able to grasp and understand the meaning of what people are saying. I'm very disheartened by the poor reading comprehension skills showed by many Conservatives.

I have to say something about Independent Christian films. Support them! Every Independent film begins with someone who has an idea and a message. To make a Christian film, you spend anywhere between $100,000-$200,000. You rarely recoop that.

Those who do so to make a Christian movie with a Christian message should be lauded. They're making movies because they believe the message will have an impact on people's lives. The Christiano Brothers do great work in making their own movies as well as distributing those of others.

Their Website offers movies at a reasonable price with a good entertainment value. As Christians we often face the choice of who we'll support. I understand that sometimes, we all want just a nice "fun" movie and that's fine. But where should more of our entertainment dollars be going? I'd contend that it's a better idea to invest financially in people who have invested themselves in making movies for the Glory of God.

I saw Flywheel from Sherwood pictures: an excellent picture about a used car salesman who turns his life over to God and decides to start running an honest business.

It's a good movie. The acting's not the best, but is very good for a low budget picture. It has a very powerful message and a great story line. I heartily reccomend it. It really made me think.

I'm searching for Alan Keyes. Can't find him anywhere. Hasn't been in the news for four months. He's expected to be in Alabama in a few days. Gosh, I wish I could be here.

Speaking of FreeRepublic.com, I read a story attacking Bill Simon standing against Arnold. It was a very slanted Report in the Washington Times. I pointed out that when it came to intraparty issues, the Washington Times was not always objective and mentioned an article from 2000 where they implied Alan Keyes was in the Presidential race merely to thwart Steve Forbes. As soon as I posted it, it occurred to me that someone might say, "I'd like to see that article."

But I didn't know where it was. I was up until 1:30 a.m. trying to find it. I tracked it down at last and no one called me on it. So, sometimes I worry about nothing or I'm going overboard in my "show prep". Still here's the link.

Found this interesting article on Freerepublic.com. It's from Pipeline.com on Howard Dean. Read the article, it's fascinating writing. If Howard Dean comes to your area ask him if he's ever performed an abortion? We all deserve an answer.

Everyone who is against Pete Rose being admitted is getting soft on allowing Rose in the Hall. Liberal Rob Neyer proposes that Rose be allowed in and that a heretofore unmade distinction be made between betting on your team and betting against it.

Neyer argues that having the Pete Rose issue unresolved is a problem for Major League Baseball. The problem Rob is that it was resolved by Bart Giamatti. No one seems willing to let this be resolved, but rather wants to feel sorry for a man who chose to ruin his own career.

In his latest column in regards to a Baseball Prospectus report that Baseball intends to allow Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame back into baseball and to manage.

Caple has no problem enshrining Rose in Cooperstown even though Joe Jackson and everyone else who was involved in gambling on the game is banned, but he takes issue with putting Rose as a manager. He points out that in addition to the fact that Rose can't be trusted. He points out that a lot of people have been waiting to manage including Yankees Coach Willie Randolph.

I wonder personally why Randolph doesn't have a position. He interviewed for several positions. Maybe Randolph is like me. I don't interview well either.

Bill Simon was quoted on CNN.com as saying, " "He's known from the standpoint of name identification, but... from the standpoint of where he stands on the issues, from the standpoint of what his priorities are, he's a blank slate," Simon told CNN's American Morning. "We need to hear from Arnold." This was roundly mocked by Arnold supporters but they should pay attention. Simon knows of what he speaks.

Last year, he was the hot political commodity until a sudden downfall due to charges that were eventually refuted. Simon knows that even with a well-established agenda, everything can go south in a moment. The idea that anyone should pack it in at this point is absurd. Arnold has yet to prove himself a lasting force.

While in Bigfork, I visited the library and I heard a couple women in a conversation about Ann Coulter. One lady said that she didn't like Coulter because of the way she was constantly flicking her hair and that it detracts from what she says. The other lady complained that her long hair would cause people not to take her seriously.

It's an interesting commentary I suppose. I don't think long, blonde hair does not detract from Coulter's political message. It'd be sexist to suggest this about a liberal but as I heard two women suggesting it about a conservative, the PC police won't mind.

The idea seems odd that that for a woman to have a feminine style of hair and feminine mannerisms shoudl cause her to have less credibility. This is only true if feminism created a world where women could only be respected by being less feminine. As a serious pundit whose not ashamed of being feminine and does not alternate her hairstyles between "shoulder length and short", Coulter will cause feminists a few heart attacks. Or I should say a few more.

Went to Bigfork for an interview. Now, the interview went well, but I must carefully advise those who are visiting Montana to enjoy the beauty of the state not to visit Bigfork for your own good.

TIf you're into art, it has some attractions but otherwise is an over-priced place where tourists come to surrender their money. The high costs of goods in the town are out of control. If you're coming to Glacier to witness the failed forest management policies of the Clinton administration, buy your food and goods in Kalispell or prepare to get soaked in Bigfork.

Continuing on the same vain. Occupational based interviewing and testing will work best. Give employees situations like they'll be working in. I have to admit the way Don Cyphers hired me made sense.

I called Cyphers up on the phone and was asking where to send my resume. He said he didn't care about my resume. He just cared if I could write. He put me on the spot at 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon and gave me a deadline: I had two hours to get him two stories. He hung up the phone and I panicked. Everything was closed, everyone was out of town. Somehow I tracked down a story and the rest is history (or legal history as the case may be).

The man was a fraud and a crook but he had the most common sense, effective away of screening an employee. I give him that much.

Went to an application writing class. Oh man, the application gives me a headache. It's a nightmarish thing, I dread and hate the application and this class hasn't helped that. There's so much artificial effort required to get a job, it's not funny.

The lady teaching the class, told us it's all a game. It's a game set up by employers but I seriously doubt they come out better for it. You may get someone capable of making their getting fired for being late for work positive but are you getting an employee who's going to really do well for your company.

I've been through so many rings, hoops, and circles and gotten so much contradictory information, it's absurd. What employers don't know is that they're being taken. There are people who know how to work the system but will not do a good job. I've seen people who can just walk into a business and the employer will say, "You're hired!" and then they'll be late for work all the time or flake out on you.

I've seen others who may not apply well, may not interview well, but when they get on the job, they'll be a heck of an employee. It's really time for smart employers to find some way to base their decision on who can do the job best, not who has the best suit and who can kiss up to them the most.

A new Screwtape Report has been released. Most of the reports have a good deal of humor in them, so maybe I'm not bad in the entertainment value portion of blogging. In fact, I probably rock. :)

There's something rotten in the State of California. Three very different, divergent polls have been released in the last few days:

In the CNN-Time Poll taken last week Arnold leads the Lieutenant Governor 25-15%. A Majority support the recall.

In the MSNBC poll Arnold leads 31-18. 59% favored recalling Davis.

In the most amazing poll result from 10 News and Survey USA, the State terminates Davis with extreme prejudice (66% favor recalling) and then Arnold terminates Lt. Governor Bustamante (51-17%). Now folks, people do not change their minds so quickly.

The polls are varying so much on the top two questions that it's ridiculous. One big problem may be that none took a big enough sample, each asked around 500 voters and I have a stinking suspicion that a larger sample will lead to a different result.

The only way this shift is even possible is if California voters have decided: 1) Davis will be recalled, 2) Arnold will be the next governor, 3) the state needs to be unified. The higher the vote for Arnold, the easier it will be for him to govern, the easier it will be for him to resolve the state's impossible problems. For Californians to make such a quick analysis seems unlikely. Rather the sample is probably very flawed.

I have more time to blog when I'm unemployed. Is that odd or what?

Looking for works is the greatest drudgery on the face of the Earth. I don't exaggerate. It's bad when you're doing wrong, it's worse when you're doing it right. When you're doing it wrong, you're sending the resume off to every employer and getting rejected. When you're doing it right, you're handcrafting resumes to each employer's needs and not getting considered.

Let me be clear. I love working. I wrote a poem about working after I got my last job at Stream International and found a measure of success:

I thank the Lord for hands with which to work,
I praise Him for a voice to rejoice despite the jerks,
I lift up my voice to the One on High,
Who gives me my daily bread to live by,
I thank him for the trials,
I praise him for the smiles,
I thank Him for hard honest toil,
I praise Him for the fertile soil,
I thank Him for the pay,
I praise Him for every day,
I thank Him for doing more than His part,
I praise Him for the joy of working with all my heart.

To work is to live, to have a function in society. I'm on my second week of looking for work without a job and I'm going stir crazy. Prior to the site closure I was looking while working which was exhausting. Something should be about to break. If not, I'll be on unemployment which bothers me to no end. I want to be working, not living off the government. I'm not judging those who do take unemployment. (My wife is amongst those doing so.) But, I don't want an unemployment check, I want to work.

I heard Rush read the following article on the air and it's given me some thought about how I can improve my blogging.

Some of it's not applicable. The first point of show prep is obviously not. I am very careful to research my case to make the best case I can. I don't blog as much as most bloggers. I've found that being unemployed gives me more time to Blog.

I've been guilty of bad blogging in terms of design. Until today, my font has been far too tiny and I've been using the HTML pargraph tag when it has been merited but I will reform. Of course, bad design depends on whether just the blog is the blog or my whole site of which the blog is only a part is the blog. If the latter is the case, the design is adequate but is now better.

The areas that I suffer most in is entertainment value and the audience bond. The entertainment value is marginal. There's very little entertainment value in Michael Reagan and a lot less in Hannity. The lack of a personal bond and personal stories is problematic. From this day forward though, I will reform. You'll see. This will be a very different Adam's Blog.

Came up with a fair compromise on the McClintock-Simon-Arnold issue:

I think that right now the race is Arnold's to lose. I wouldn't put too much stock in these early polls. One poll shows simon in 3rd, one shows Uberoff, and one shows McClintock. It doesn't look good for either of them politically at this point.
But, I would hasten to add this is very early. We're two months before the election for crying out loud. If I'm in the Simon or McClintock campaign, I know that this is bad, but that Arnold may very well fade down the stretch.

I would spend the next six weeks trying to win the governorship, and I'd watch Arnold very closely. If two weeks before the election, McClintock and Simon are still in single digits and Arnold's ahead, they should get out.

What Arnold supporters are asking is a little on the absurd side. They want every other Republican to drop out, leaving us with no fall back should Arnold implode.

There's a lot of stuff the Democrats are going to throw at him in this campaign and we have no clue if it's going to stick. If it does and Arnold's damaged, strategically we'd be left with no fallback. His political career is six days old. He has yet to articulate a single issue for the voters of California and Simon and McClintock should drop out?

I think the nervous nellys in the Arnold camp need to chill, hear Arnold's campaign play out, and ease off of Simon, Uberoth, and McClintock. Let these guys see if they can sell themselves to voters. If they're not able to connect with voters then they should just go ahead and drop out.

We're a long ways from that decision, however.

I'd hasten to add that this decision is easy for me to make in Montana, but I'd have a heck of a time voting for Arnold under any circumstances if I had to make the call.

Okay, so Drudge was wrong about Arnold. I think Schwarzenegger isn't the best Republican in the race, but we may see a huge surprise this October. Polls mean nothing. The best candidate is about 16 points back, but people are just getting established right now.

Expect some things to come down the pike soon. Currently I'm working on an e-book for 29ways.com and will soon officially endorse a Presidential Candidate for 2004. I'm looking for work and may be looking at an out of state move. The Flathead Valley is Northwest Montana is a great place to live by the price of living here is really high. I'm sorry to say.

Does anyone get tired of Drudge telegraphing the news? Not only does he have the fact that Arnold's not running for governor, but that Dick Riordan will announce. It takes a lot of pagentry out of politics to know how everything will come down. Still give Drudge credit, he does have his sources.

If you are interested in a job, don't go through Vector Marketing. While the wages promised are great, it appears to be a scam based on what people are saying. This page saved me a trip to Missoula.
I'm not going to repeat my Kirby mistake.

Many people are acting as if the Episcopalean Church's decision to ordain an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire makes it apostate.

Wrong! The Episcopal Church has been Apostate for several years

Consider that a third of Episcopalean ministers don't believe in the resurrection and that John Shelby Spong spouts his blasphemy with the title of Episcopal bishop attached to his rantings. That Reverend Robinson was even a Priest.

To those true Christians remaining in the Episcopal Church, I admonish you according to Revelations 18:4, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

The Graceless Left

Bob Hope died at the age of 100. I thought Bob Hope as a comedian was okay. Bob Hope as a man was far more than that. How few of our modern entertainers would have the courage and guts to go into harms way to bring some "hope" and laughter to the troops. Bob Hope was.

Mr. Hope died and you'd think this would be a time of solemn remembrance and mourning. Instead, it was time for a left wing cultural critic to decry all of this "God Bless America" remembrance of Hope, because he didn't get any of his jokes.

Christopher Hitchens who has now become an expert on comedy has declared Hope "hopelessly unfunny". even daring to accuse him of cowardice. I thought the liberals pecking at Strom Thurmond's corpse was really tasteless, even though Thurmond had done some awful things in his life. Hitchen however has attacked a dead man because his style of comedy didn't exactly fit his tastes and preferences.

How cruel and disrespectful is that? It used to be that when people died, we would put RIP (Rest in Peace) on their grave. Such a practice should be abandonned as the left certainly will have none of that for anyone who did anything for this country.

Not One More War

If the question is war, the answer is no. I supported the war in Afghanistan strongly, I stayed neutral throughout the Congressional debate on the war in Iraq but enough is enough. I oppose going to Liberia or any other hellhole that our politicians try and send our troops to.

The idea that patriotism requires we declare our support for every war is repugnant. While the yahoos who've fueled the anti-war movement in this country heretofore have been communists and other malcontents, unlimited continuous war is neither patriotic nor prudent.

Where in the world are our troops? Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, South Korea, among dozens of others. Our armed forces are stretched thin and I will not support a draft or massive increases in defense spending for the sake of such noble goals such as "ridding the World of evil". (More on that in a future column.)

Having trashed one author published in Slate, let me praise another. William Saletin has done a splendid job in a series of buzzword articles. In the articles, Saletin uses wit and intelligence to get to the heart of the Democratic buzzwords and sayings. So far, he's done all nine Democrats with President Bush remaining. Here's an example of some of Saletin's translation of candidate's statements:

From Dick Gephardt on Fiscal Relief

Example: "Dick Gephardt today announced that his health care plan, if passed into law, would cover all Americans, stimulate the economy and provide the state of New Hampshire $767 million in fiscal relief over the course of three years" (press release, June 3, 2003).

What it means: Money.

What it hides: The money gets counted three times: as health care, economic stimulus, and aid to states and cities. And by the way, it comes from you.

Subtext: What I've learned from 27 years in Congress is to spin everything as a special-interest appropriation.

From Dennis Kucinich on "Free"

Examples: "Democrats can move this county forward … to making education our top funding priority and providing free college education for all" (speech to Democratic National Committee, Feb. 22, 2003). "We need to make it possible for fully paid college in this country, so everyone who wants to go to college, and that includes higher education, and law school, and medical school." (Children's Defense Fund forum, April 9, 2003).

What it means: You pay nothing …

What it hides: … until April 15.

Subtext: Nobody's going to outbid me for the campus vote.

I can't show you anymore, but read the whole series for yourself.

I have a simple principle for politics. "Politics should stop at death's door".

Apparently, some of our Leftist friends don't seem to think so. Former United States Senator Strom Thurmond's body was hardly cold when Slate Columnist Diane McWhorter accused Thurmond of fathering a Black, illegitimate child when he was 23! You got to hand it to Slate and Diane McWhorter it takes a lot of guts to raise allegations against a dead man when he can no longer rebut the charge!

It was originally made five years ago in a little read "unauthorized biography". McWhorter full of indignation demanded to know why this allegation hasn't been more widely circulated. Indeed, I could bring equal indignation to the fact that many of Bill Clinton's relatively recent affairs (as reported in "The Secret Life of Bill Clinton" by Ambrose Evans Pritchard are not better known). However, the fact that someone is alleging something does not make it so.

More importantly, such an incredible poor taste and lack of grace was shown in making this attack that I'm astonished at it! But the Cartoonist are worst. Bill Day of the Nashville Commercial Appeal portrays Thurmond as flying upward to Heaven with a terrified look on his face as he head towards the the hand of a Black god. Apparently in the left's world, the only one it's okay to suggest faces a less than pleasant eternity is Strom Thurmond.

Ann Telnaes never to be outdone for plain, simple mean-spiritedness drew a picture of Thurmond's grave with the epitath, "Strom Thurmond: Born a Segregationist, Died an Opportunist." I'm sure the grieving Senator's family appreciates this. I'm sure South Carolinans of all races who have benefitted from Thurmond's service are pleased.

In the end, these warped leftist now view funerals as political affairs. Like every other event in life, death is an opportunity to score political points, to kick the corpse of a World War II hero and deny his family the right to grieve in piece. Let me be brutally honest. Senator Paul Wellstone's record and legacy will be shown by history to be more ominous, diabolical, and damaging to the American country. Wellstone championed infanticide and the destruction of American liberty. Still, conservatives manage to show a shred of decency lacking from these most recent detestable attacks.

Just got back from a great vacation up at the Bend Guard station. My wife and I celebrated our first anniversary! Wow! I can't believe it's been a whole year. We spent two days and three nights at the very nice Guard Station. In the course of our visit and our subsequent trip to Glacier we saw a Moose, 7 deer, and 2 cows.

During the trip, the Lord gave me a sermon/pamphlet idea I'll be working on. I feel refreshed and renewed, though pretty tired.

I don't have a television in my house, for the simple reason that I'm addicted to it. I shouldn't be around television like some people shouldn't be around alcohol. (Okay, so I may be overstating that just a tad).

This week I found myself stuck at a laundromat without a book and caught a rerun of David Kelly's The Practice. I hadn't seen a full episode before, but while I was at home my dad was a big fan and as he blared the sound at full blast, I heard several episodes.

Despite it's liberal bias, "The Practice" is a great drama. It paints a very realistic picture of criminal defense attorneys and their clients (as realistic of a picture as you can paint without getting boring as a totally realistic lawyer show would spend 90% of the time working out plea bargains and 10% at trial). This episode I saw was about a prison inmate who killed his bunkmate in his sleep. A female attorney tried to get him to plead guilty as he'd signed a confession, his prints were on the murder weapon, and his bunkmate was sleeping.

The prisoner defended himself in court, claiming the common law defense of necessity. He testified that a man serving three life sentences for three prior murders had threatened to kill him unless he slayed his bunkmate. The story (inadvertently I'm sure) raises some very serious problems for the anti-death penalty crowd. What happens to a man when you can't touch him? If he's in for three consecutive life sentences, what else can you do to him with no death penalty deterrent?

The story ends with the prisoner escaping from the courthouse after killing a guard. One thing I do like from what I've seen/heard of the series is that Kelly isn't pretentious and doesn't glamorize criminal defense lawyers. He's quite honest that many of their clients are guilty, that if they are released they will commit more crimes, even against the attorneys that defended them. While it's more gritty than shows like Perry Mason and Matlock, it avoids painting an unrealistic picture of the legal profession and it's clients: Clean cut all-american kids who are wrongly accused were most of them. The degree of honesty Kelly shows is refreshing and it's important that people who may be interested in law get a proper perception of what they're getting into, rather than the glamorized notions provided by Lawyer shows past.

The media claims to be smart. Oftentimes, their own pretention finds them out. One of my absolute favorite sites is PoliticalCartoons.com. Generally, the authors are clever in making their point, even if they aren't right. This week, however, I found two really dumb comics.

One cartoon showed George Bush jumping on a map of America drawn as the Incredible Hulk screaming, "Me Save America by destroying it." and the caption read, "The Incredible Bush". That wouldn't be stupid, except the Hulk never said anything like that. Such statements belong to "Bizarro", the opposite of Superman not to the Hulk.

Another comic portrayed John Ashcroft as the INS officer who took Elian Gonzalez away but this time Ashcroft was saying he would detain Elian to find out what he was up to. Stupid! If your readers have a short attention span, they'll not know what you're talking about. If they don't, they'll be reminded of another attorney general. This Attorney General who used Gestapo tactics to seize a boy from his uncle's home in the middle of the night. It reminds us of the Attorney General whose impatience, recklessness, and many would say malice aforethought led to the deaths of eighty Americans at Waco, Texas. This same Attorney General turned a blind eye to President Clinton's violations of the law, refusing to call her lawless boss to account.

The comic reminds that as unhappy as I am with some of John Ashcroft's heavy-handed tactics, I'm so glad that he. and not our prior Attorney General, Janet Reno is in that office.

Have you ever felt like you're witnessing the end of an era? America has great institutions of government that are slowly being degraded, as hardly anyone, not even the people in those institution understand how they're supposed to work. In America, the love of the church has grown cold. It's a lack of love that crosses all denominational barriers. I don't care whether you're Pentecostal, Baptist, or Catholic, there's been less of a committement to the faith.

I just finished a book by Rick Warren called the Purpose Driven Life. The book's far from perfect, especially as far as the writing goes. But if people would really apply want Warren says, Christians in America could change this country. Sadly, I fear much of his good advice will go unheeded. The heart of the church is cold and needs to awaken to God's truth. Sadly, I fear we're losing our way to sins of worldliness and materialism. The American church is becoming so cold, it's very sad.

I find myself wondering if this is the "Great Falling Away" and whether at last we will see the return of our Lord, who'll set all right. Though, we must go through the fire, come Lord Jesus, come.

Sadly, this is probably just another great apostasy that Christians must survive and fight through and that God must move to bring revival. Still, it seems worse than reports of times past. Then again, it's different I suppose when you read about something as opposed to living through it. The Saints of old thought the end was near to. Work while the light is with you for the hour of darkness comes when no man can work.

I've got to comment on this stupid article I read on BCentral yesterday. The article tells businesspeople three things they shouldn't use technology for:

1) Sending an Anonymous e-mail to one of your competior's customers praising yourself and attacking your competitor.

2) Anonymously posting libelous allegations against your competitor on public message boards

3) Rigging a Chamber of Commerce Businessperson of the Year award voting so that your competitor loses.

Now I have an honest question. Are businesspeople really this stupid and crooked? Do they really need someone to tell them, "Don't do this!"? Maybe the author was simply desperate for a topic and came up with this. We're in a sad state as a country if businessmen find these tactics tempting. Of course, if they have to be told not to do this, she may have to write follow-up columns such as, "How to Not Embezzle Company Funds" and "Sexual Harassment: It's Not a Good Idea".

When I have a case of writer's block next Winter, I can write a column suggest that it's a bad idea for baseball players to crush their arms under buildings, or how its not a good idea to make it your goal to get hit in the groin by the ball, and a follow up column on why Athletic Support cups are good for you.

I've let this place go to pot! I haven't posted anything here in two months. I've got three new updates:

Updated the Baseball Page with my latest columns. I've made my upteenth resolution to keep this page updated every week. It's really not that hard. Whenever they post my column, all I need to is change the top page, upload it and note it here, but I can be lazy and forgetful as readers of this board will note as my last post here was in mid-March.

Added the Christian Movie Night page to the Living Water Christian Fellowship page . It has pictures from the video cover and links to descriptions of all the movies we'll be showing this Summer. Hope, we have more people coming out this next time.

Added the The Screwtape Report, which is the coolest political project I've come up with. I write the columns from the perspective of Dave Screwtape, a Democratic political consultant who is writing a weekly report to fellow Democrats on strategy and policy. It's challenging writing to say the least, but it is worthwile. The reactions I've gotten from Free Republic have been extremely positive. Hopefully, I can sell the Screwtape idea to the big boys.

Pray for our troops. I'm not over in Iraq. I don't welcome this war nor am I entirely convinced that it will achieve our goals. Our President and by a 2/3 vote, our congress is convinced and so we are going to war. The decision has been made.

I'm not on the front lines and I never will be. I have a host of health problems which don't stop me from living a normal life but which would make me inelligible for military service. If I were over there, I'd hope that Americans would put aside their opposition or their doubts about the war and pray for me, pray for my safety. Our soldiers are facing a terrible trial, a time when they could meet their deaths. If we'd like someone to be praying for us, we should pray for them.

I didn't mean to suggest yesterday that those who favored a war with Iraq wanted it. Ideally, I understand everyone would have liked Saddam to leave peacefully. I think those who have supported have understood that wasn't going to happen. We've known for a better part of a year that to achieve our goal of stabalizing the region and removing a threat to the United States and peace, that war was perhaps not the preferred way to go but it was the only realistic option.

In essence, those who've been tough on Iraq have wanted war only because war is the only way that the goal can be achieved. I'm not suggesting that they're bloodthirsty, only that they see war as the only way. And if removing Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi threat is the goal, war is the only answer.

War is coming. Of that there is no doubt. Within a day or so, I suppose it will start. I hope and pray that everything will be over as quickly as people say. However, quick victories are rarely accomplished as neatly as we'd like. We may be getting in for more than we bargain for.

To the principled opponents of the war, I acknowledge their honest desire for peace. However, they've allowed to speak for them, a group of Americans so full of hatred for this country and everything that's good and right about it, that reasonable men couldn't help but tune out their message.

To the supporters of war, you have what you want. 65% of Americans support the war, we're told. That support for our President and our troops must not be abated because of high casualities. This is the risk of war. If we look at a loss of military life and we say, "For 10,000 lives it's not worth it." we should not send them all. Support our troops, remain steadfast in standing behind this war. Retreat is not option, only victory or defeat.

God bless our President, God bless our soldiers, and God bless the United States of America.

Will we just get it over with?

All this hand-wringing and false starts in the US war on Iraq. The war was supposed to start in November, then in Febuary, and now the latest deadline is Monday. The US and Britain can't allow another day. We have to strike hard and fast.

There is no debate over whether there will be a war. We all know there will be. That's been abundantly clear for a while. With or without the UN we're going Nothing is going to prove Iraq innocent (as they're not). So lets stop the games. As much as one may have problems with the war, if the President thinks we should do it, it's time to start.

Rush was wrong.

You heard me. During Open Line Friday, he had a 19 year-old College Student on-Crystal was her name. Rush made (or came close to making) some good points on the war, but was hindered by the fact that both of them were shouting past each other.

In the course of the segment, Rush managed to insult her intelligence, saying that whatever money taxpayers were spending on her education were most likely being "wasted".

Is Crystal a leftist who doesn't have a firm grasp of the facts nor an understanding of how this nation became great and how it works? Yes. Does this mean Crystal and other young people will forever be that way? No.

Amazing things happen in many cases when you find out that you are the rich. After all, it's the rich who pay the taxes and college-educated people (unless they're majoring in Art History or Philosophy) get paid more than everyone else.

You also begin to respect family and tradition more when you have a family of your own. Studies have shown that over the course of life as people get married and have children they become more Conservative as they begin to deal with the realities of life.

Some of the same students protesting today will be voting Republican by 2020, as many liberals grow up and become conservatives.

However, those that get brow-beaten and treated uncivility may be a little less likely to make the switch. While we hope that people will make their decisions based on logic and reason, human beings are still human beings. How many people do you know who will go into one Target Store and have a negative experience after which they will refuse to go to any one of thousands of Target retail outlets around the country? How many people will have a negative experience with one of several million ministers in the United States and then decide that all ministers are frauds and crooks, and furthermore the church is full of nothing but charlatans and simpletons?

The right tact to take rather than seeking to totally destroy liberal college students, is to recognize them for what they are: products of a Public School propoganda machine that has robbed and victimized them. The public school system of this country has taken children born in the freeest, strongest country in the world: a land of opportunity, a beacon to the oppressed peoples of the world, and made them believe that this country is a fraud and a shame. History is taught to point out all that America's done wrong, ignoring or overlooking what we've done right.

Because of this progranda, high school students leave school with a sense of despair about their country and thus become open to the influence of Globalists and other liberal utopian quacks who inhabit college campuses. This ought not to be! I know this country has its problems, but I see the great principles it was founded on and see something worth standing up for, something worth holding onto.

They are the victims of the propoganda machine which has robbed them of the ability to be a proud American. For that, they deserve our patient prayers, and a gentle hand, not the insulting treatment Rush provided today.

I had a good time at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Flathead County. Governor Judy Martz (R-MT) was supposed to speak at the event but opted against it due to the ongoing state legislative session. As such, we were treated to an evening with officials from the County and Tri-city planning board, as well as Secretary of State Bob Brown.

Now, as boring as that may sound to some people, it really wasn't. Both of the Planning Board folks made their work sound interesting and it is vital to the Flathead Valley's future, though I must say that one guy from the cities managed to be "about finished" for ten minutes.

Bob Brown was a simple but powerful spokesman for the Republican agenda, encouraging us that we are winning because of what the Democratic Party has become and providing a solid and constructive agenda for Republicans to improve our state.

Few men have impressed me more during my time of following Montana politics than Bob Brown. I've spent hours talking with him on the phone (and when I was in Eureka, I ran up quite a phone bill). Since I first met him in 1993, when he was a State Senator from Whitefish he's taken an interest in me and what I was doing in life. Unlike some political leaders, he understands the importance of getting young people involved in politics. Because of that care and interest, I have a lot of respect for Bob Brown.

He asked me and Jesse Mayhew (a current FVCC student) if we were going to speak. I said, "No." believing he was joking but later found that two young Republicans from Missoula had been allowed to. I could have spoken but I had nothing really to say tonight, so silence is better than empty words. After asking us about our lives and what we were doing, Brown put his hands on our shoulders and reminded us that we were the future.

As for the night itself, I was blessed to end up at a talkative table where I was drawn into the conversation and actually managed to contribute something.

Perhaps, the one thing that makes me nervous about my plans to be involved in public service is my tendency to become very shy in public occassions when I don't know my role. It's very easy to be friendly and outgoing at my wedding reception, or even church events. I know who I am and that I have a right to be approaching people. In the case of an event like the Lincoln Day Dinner, who am I and what am I doing are primary questions that fill my mind.

Of course, this might be because I'm an INFJ personality type . The "I" stands for introverted and I've learned that while some of the temperment stuff is inaccurate, that trait is definitely predominate. Those who see me in my comfort zones won't believe it but take me out of those places where I know what I'm supposed to be doing, I'm incredibly shy. How I overcome that, or use that to my advantage, I don't know but God-willing I'll find away.

Heard the President on the radio tonight while driving to the Lincoln Day dinner and later on when going to work to pick up my wife from the Lincoln Day dinner. I hadn't understand what Sean Hannity had meant when they described our President as "magnificient". After listening to the president on the radio, I understand better than I ever have before.

One thing I've noticed is that the President has slowed down. When he speaks, every word sounds well-thought out and well-considered, perhaps because they are. He understands the task that is before him, the risks involved and he's made a decision based on what he believes is right for America. Listening to the president, I trust that whatever decision he makes will be the right one.

I've notcied that the far left has attacked our president for having no respect for the world community. If that were the case, wouldn't Bush have gone to war by now? The Pentagon has been slowly pushing back it's war plan in the face of the UN's unappeasable appetite for appeasement. The UN's patience with Iraq despite lying about its possession of missles in its first report to them.

President Bush will not delay forever, however. President Bush understands the apporance of alliances and of the international community, but the President believes America is more important and will not see havoc reaked on this country because of the cowards at the United Nations.

At Service yesterday, the strangest thing happened (not to say that strange things don't generally happen at our service in general), the topic of Mr. Roger's death came up and the whole fellowship spent about 10-15 minutes talking about this wonderful man who just recently went to receive his reward. Fred Rogers from all accounts was the same person everywhere he went, full of mercy, love, and holiness. He'll truly be missed. On my big future parent to-do list is getting copies of his show for my children when I have them.

The hardest thing to do in these uncertain times is to keep faith. It seems as if our whole country is going crazy, the whole world in fact.

Sometimes, I look out on this world and on my country and wonder why I try to do anything in America's political process. It's all so hopeless messed up, so borken, it's fantastic to believe that America will ever be the Constitutional Republic it once was with limited government and a respect for decency and family.

I love America too much to stop, too much to not try, not to risk getting my brains beat in efforts that are doomed to failure. It's a role I have to play, that all freedom loving Americans have to play but no one says it's easy.

Did actually see "Signs" starring Mel Gibson on DVD and "enjoyed" some of the DVD's features such as the deleted scenes.

I found out why deleted scenes are deleted. There were a total of five such scenes:

1) A badly written piece of dialouge between Mel Gibson and his brother.

2) Two Flashbacks which really didn't further the plot.

3) A scene with a burnt dead bird on the ground which was actually better explained by some dialogue in the movie.

4) A scene where Gibson remembers dislocating his brother's arm. It made sense when he was remembering his children's birth but not this.

Conclusion: Scenes are killed mostly so we don't waste six minutes of our lives watching totally irrelevent things. And if we really want to, we can wait for the DVD.

Some updates. First, I added a poem about Rep. Dennis Kucinich. In addition, I've written several baseball columns and those can be found at the baseball page.

By the way, did you know that the term, "You're close-minded" is now synonymous with "You don't agree with me and that's just evil!"

If you read my guestbook , you'll see the following entry from Jerrod:

I think you need to get a life and allow everyone to watch you and criticize your efforts. Maybe then you will shut up before attacking someone who has done more for hurting people than your critical heart could ever fathom. You don't understand anything so why dont you shutup. People like you hurt men who try and give everything they can and stick there neck out to reach a multiple of differnt types of human beings. Carman teaches biblical truths in every way possible, not to just one close minded I-only-like-things-my-way people like yourself.

First, as to having some criticize my efforts, apparent Jerrod isn't aware that I do indeed have a little brother who knows everything, including the fact that my methods and manner of writing simply doesn't work. I appreciate the efforts of Carman. Indeed, if Jarrod would notice, I put Carman as my top link on the Christian Music page. I'm impressed with his giving free concerts (thought sadly it does appear from what I've seen on his website he has begun to charge again). I also remember seeing him on TBN, and after delivering a wonderful response telling the audience that if his singing blessed them to give God the glory. I think the only other artist I've ever seen do that is Ray Boltz.

My criticism of Carman is he's tried to be too many things to too many people. Should Twila Paris sing Christian Country-style music? Yes. Should Carman with his Eastern Italian accent attempt it? Sorry, Carman, I love you but it just doesn't work. As for Carman rapping? Um, yeah. My problems with rap music aside, he writes such wonderful rap lines as "the son of God pops no jive".

I do have some concerns about some things has done such as "The Champion" (the movie, not the song that I love). I'm sorry but I don't see that movie portraying any biblical truths. It was a remake of Rocky with a little Rambo mixed in. (I'm referring to the drug dealers that got blown up near the end.) Carman's lead character makes out with a woman who he's spent a grand total of 2 hours with in his entire life, while her son sits sleeping in the back seat. This is at best a questionable effort.

Carman has touched hearts and lives. I acknowledge that, but no mere man is above reproach. When I see things going on that I believe to be wrong, I'm obliged to let people know. Carman is a good brother in Christ, but he's not a god. Sadly many commit idolatry by elevating ministers and singers to such heights that any criticism receives a harsh response.

Doubtless, other people will be offended that I included a link to Carman's site at all. Still others will find fault with the fact that I write a baseball column. That's one thing about my site, there's something to offend everyone. :)

Long time, no post. Here are some updates.

1) More columns on the Baseball page

2) I wrote a recent article examining polling on the abortion issue and you can read it here.

3) For those of you following the Don Cyphers story, I do have an update. You can read about it here.

4) I have purchased copies of both the Writers Market 2003 and the Christian Writer's Market 2003. Hopefully, I'll get published somewhere other than Fanstop.com. I love the site, but I need to branch out.

5) I'm currently working on a novel as well as Genesis 2: Dysfunctional Families of the Bible. I'm 12 Chapters into the novel and about half-way through the class. Of course, the former is more fun and I find myself wanting to work on it rather than the class. Of course, for some reason, I feel more morally obligated to finish writing the class. It suffices to say, that once Genesis 2 is finished, that I won't be writing anymore classes for a little while anyway.

Happy New Year!