Monday Morning Rant 91

Missouri is as lovely as it is predictable. Our Mother’s Day storm came a day earlier this year but no less damaging. Early Friday morning we were treated to winds reaching eighty plus miles per hour, hail, and a gully washer of a rain. The house, deck and cars were covered with leaves, seeds, and other trash, plus, one eighty foot oak totally upended at the edge of the woods. The yard was full of torn off limbs with some major units blocking the lane to the main road..

The clean up lasted until evening Saturday. At that point I was too tired to go with Jan and help the guys at Fellowship Baptist serve the ladies their well-deserved Mother’s Day dinner. On the way to church this Sunday morning, we saw hunks and chunks of roofs, sheds, trees, and other unsecured items strewn over the country side. So far, we have no reported casualties of folks or whole buildings.

Lee Parsons was at his usual best and preached to the importance God placed on man having a companion; hence, mothers. We closed with the blessing of a brand new baby. The child, born premature several weeks ago, was surrounded by an obviously adoring family. In this age of constant turmoil it’s nice to see things as they should be. Thank you God!

Catholics!

Over the years I have had many close Catholic friends of varying levels of commitment to their faith. In fairness, many of my protestant friends have revealed a varying understanding as well. In the final analysis I had come to the conclusion that the Catholics had a firmer grip on their devotion to their principles. The situation at the upcoming Notre Dame graduation has shaken that belief to the core.

In a current Rasmussen Poll, only 52% of Catholics firmly rejected the proposition that Obama should address the graduates and receive an honorary degree. I cite Rasmussen because I believe them to be the least prejudiced of all polling agencies. Thus 48% are in disagreement with 62 of their Bishops who are on record as being opposed. I have seen no comment so far from the Vatican.

The crux of the matter is plainly the president’s track record (the worst in politics both state and federal) regarding the wanton murder of the unborn. Even to the issue of late term abortion, he has clearly stated and taken action to enable that heinous activity. In my experience, one would not even bring up the subject with a Catholic friend because any discussion would be fruitless and offensive to them.

In further polling it was revealed that evangelical Christians take an even stronger stance in defense of the unborn than Catholics. Who would have ever thought they would see that day? In the early fifties, when we moved briefly to heavily Catholic Massachusetts, one could not even buy birth control devices in drug stores. Apparently, in much of the flock, political expediency has replaced the tenets of the faith. Oh well, I guess for some nine commandments are better than none. But not in God's eyes

Air Farce One

Apparently, the photos which were the stated cause of terrifying thousands of New Yorkers recently, will be back from Walgreen’s photo finishers shortly. I’m not certain if you can get the ever popular wallet size or not. At the least you should be able to get a coffee cup or a tee-shirt with the shot printed on it. My understanding is that it would take another week for processing.

This brings us to wonder how much room there is left under the “bus.” The guy who was in charge of the operation has graciously resigned and accepted full responsibility. However, the guy who recruited him still has his job. Sorting through the detritus which is the talent pool of the liberal ranks, it is understandably difficult to find people of talent who have paid their taxes (on time), haven’t been lobbyists, or don’t have sexual scandals clouding their records. Even being the king can have its problems.

A Seventy-five year old Cartoon

Once you have switched media several times, it is nearly impossible to maintain the original integrity of a document. In this case, there is sufficient detail left for you to get the idea. Although published in ’34 or ’35 it captures today’s financial situation with extreme accuracy. “They” say there’s nothing new under the sun. In this case, we could simply change some, but not all, the names and come up with the appropriate message.

We have fought with spirits of the internet all morning and have been unable to get the cartoon to post. Please, please click here and take a look at it. It is part of an editorial by Thomas Mitchell of the Review-Journal in Las Vegas.

For clarification we find the labels on the cart reveal the presence of “Ickes” in the middle. Harold L. Ickes was the longest serving Secretary of Interior (1933-1946) who served as the primary implementer of the “new deal” under Roosevelt. He was a machine politician from Chicago (law degree from Univ. of Chicago,) active in social programs and conflicted over party affiliation. Ickes was also an original founding delegate to the United Nations.

The guy in the middle with the shovel is Henry A. Wallace, then Secretary of Agriculture, subsequent Secretary of Commerce and Roosevelt’s vice president until 1944. Another example of party confliction, he started as a Republican, then went Democrat and finally returned to the fold when it was revealed he had been duped by the Soviets on an early trip to visit that paradise known as Siberia.. In his run as an Independent in the 1948 elections, he was endorsed by the Communist Party, USA and never saw fit to reject the endorsement. To his credit, his dedication to agriculture was always “hands on” and his major lasting accomplishments all center on that discipline. His ground breaking efforts in development of hybrid seed were manifest in Pioneer, a company which eventually was acquired by DuPont for over $10 billion.

I have a measure of confusion about the person depicted on the right side of the wagon. The other two are reasonable depictions of the men that are identified. I have difficulty matching the drawing of this man with the label which appears to be “Lindberg.” There was no cabinet grade or court figure consistent with the name at that time. The obvious would be the famous trans-Atlantic flyer who would have been much younger at the time and spelled his name differently.

The message remains, complete with the donkey drawn cart, and captures 2009 as well as 1934. It deserves a careful look. I find its prescience scary!

And finally

Everything is growing like weeds—including the weeds. Jan has been mulching day lilies and the forest has completely leafed. We have returned to that condition which disallows the penetration of any lights either near or far which we find so comforting. Fortunately, the birds are colorful enough they are still highly visible. Blue, yellow, red, brown, black and a touch of orange complete the feathery palette.

Watching this seasonal change unfold before one’s eyes is indeed a miracle. If ever a couple were blessed, it has to be us.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon