That Speech That Came Back To Bite Obama, or A Tidbit From The Local Paper

Small town newspapers sometimes have the reputation for reporting on less-than-newsworthy subjects, but having come from a small town, I myself have come to enjoy reading these newspapers.  This may sound strange, but many times as I drove through various unfamiliar territories of this great state, I would stop at some local store or truck stop just to buy the newspaper from that town.  I have come across many gems of little known facts and folklore in just this way.  But the jewel I ran across just today came from out of my own hometown little news journal, also known as the Gatesville Messenger.  (Note: I frequently do not agree with Mr. Day's editorials, but I do not mind giving credit where it is due, by saying "thank you" to Mr. Day for this little tidbit.)

A newspaper editor needs to have a good memory (so too should voters, for that matter) and Mr. Day did his job in this case.  He was able to remember, then locate, this speech made to Congress several years ago by a junior senator who just could not stand then President George W. Bush, the Republican members of Congress, and the Bush Cabinet.  This brave and righteously indignant senator had these words to say:

"The fact that we are here today to debate America's rising debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.  It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies.  Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.  Leadership means that "the buck stops here."  Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.  America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." (Note: All the italics are mine.)

Most of you have figured out, and if you are from Gatesville you already know, that the junior senator who made these remarks so bravely in the years prior to the 2008 Presidential election was none other than Barack Hussein Obama.

By the way, in the current Congress, several Senators and Representatives apparently plagiarized young Obama's speech, or something.  I mean, I know I have heard these very words uttered in Congress in just the past two or three weeks.  It is almost as if young Senator Obama already knew that he would be elected president in 2008, and that he had already outlined his fiscal policy.

The last three words of former Senator Obama are the hardest for me to swallow.  Obama said "Americans deserve better." Two things sprung into my mind immediately I read those last three words. First, he was so right.  Americans DID deserve better.  I think of the dark days after 9-11 when people were still in shock, but when something else, too, was going on.  For years some group of power-hungry politicians, bureaucrats, and others just seeking power for themselves at the expense of Liberty, had kept in their possession a book, a wish-list - if you will, of things they wanted.  These things, ALL UNCONSTITUTIONAL, ranged from control of the media, control of private citizens' use of the Internet, sweeping powers of seizure and arrest without probable cause and judicial revue, gun registration, travel restrictions, and the list went on (for over THREE THOUSAND PAGES!!!).  There was just one problem.  All of these things were illegal, and many were treasonous; therefore no one in his right mind would suggest these laws, and certainly no Congress in its collective right mind would approve.  And in Congress was a senator against it all, standing tall for the rights of the ordinary American - Senator Barack H. Obama.  As he said, "Americans deserve better."

The second thing that crossed my mind was that as a senator, Obama later did a "180" on these and other issues, supporting the President he could not stand in the process.  Obama had been an outspoken rebel against the things President Bush was doing in 2004, yet he later decided that USA PATRIOT Act was a good thing, although he was honest enough to admit that even by 2006 he had not read the full document. Nor had most Senators and Representatives (not including "crazy" or "racist" members such as Ron Paul).  Regardless, as Senator, Mr. Obama failed to give Americans the "better" he had so loudly proclaimed that we all "deserved."  He had his chance then to do so.

In 2008, the nearly impossible happened, and the almost unknown (both as a person and as a politician) Barack H. Obama was elected to the Presidency.  I did not vote for him, but he was nonetheless "my" President.  And for awhile I really expected great things from him.  He was swept into office on a wave of popularity not seen since the days of JFK.  I did not vote for him, did not support his election, but at least I thought he would carry through on one thing.  I thought that through his great popularity, and the great desire for change the American people professed, that Barack H. Obama, now the Chief Executive, would give us the BETTER we deserved.  Instead, all he could tell us was that he had inherited a mess that would take him at least half his term to correct.

In 2012, one FULL TERM later, President Obama was returned to office by the smallest popular vote since Abraham Lincoln's election way back in 1860.  And poor Obama had once again "inherited" a mess from the previous President, only this time he WAS the "previous President." So I read those three words once again, "Americans deserve better."  I had to wonder about those Americans who "deserved better."  I have to say that I believe by re-electing Obama, those Americans who voted for him GOT what they deserved, but I doubt truly that it is something "better."   Unfortunately, the rest of the people are getting the "not better" that the Obama supporters apparently wanted so badly, and so truly deserved. 

On the one hand, I am eagerly awaiting the 2016 election.  On the other, I am wondering whether President Obama, our most arrogant, most un-patriotic, and most Constitution-trampling President ever, will simply declare himself the President in 2016 by "Executive Order."  Don't laugh too hard, my friends...with this man ANYTHING is possible.

Once again, I am truly thankful to the Gatesville Messenger "editorship" for providing the above speech from Senator Obama.  It just goes to show that one should read a small town paper every now and again.  You just never know what kinds of gems you might find.





 

A Late Easter Message

This post comes a little late, since Easter was last week, but in my defense, Easter was a little early this year.  Regardless, this is a sort of Easter message post, I suppose.  Easter is a time in which Christians commemorate and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.  That celebration ranges from elaborate religious services to Easter egg hunts in the back yard.  Whatever the means, the point is remembering that the Good Shepherd arose from the dead and in so doing defeated Satan and Death.  But before there was the Resurrection, there was the Death.

In fact, there were three deaths that day over two thousand years ago.  We all know that two thieves were crucified that morning, one man on the Lord's right, the other on his left.  Apparently these were not only thieves, but murderers as well.  Whatever their crimes, these men were considered so low and terrible that they were doomed to a death on the cross, a fate almost worse than death, to the Jews.  Only the lowest of the low were crucified.  These two men, and the Son of God...all three were considered THAT low by the Jews.  How do I know the two men were probably murderers?  It just makes sense that if the man released from prison (Barabbas) so that Christ could be crucified in his place was a murderer, then the two who died with Jesus were probably murderers as well. 

After the three men, Jesus and the two thieves, were crucified, the Roman soldiers as well as many in the crowd began taunting Jesus.  They yelled at Him to "save yourself, since you came to save the world!"  While the crowds were thus taunting Jesus, a remarkable thing happened.  The thief hanging to our Lord's left began taunting Him as well.  A condemned and dying man still having the gall to mock Jesus.  Who would have believed that possible?

Just then, another and more remarkable thing happened.  The thief hanging to our Lord's right said to his fellow thief, "Why are you mocking Him?  You and I are getting what we deserve.  But this man has done nothing!"  Then the MOST remarkable thing happened.  The thief on the right turned to Jesus and pled to Him, "Lord, please remember me when You come into your Kingdom."  You see, this thief, even in that late moment in his life, knew the Lord, and that the Lord could save him, He also knew that he deserved to die but he believed the Lord would have mercy on him.  And the thief was right in his faith.  The Bible says that Jesus turned to this thief, the one who had acknowledged him even as they both were dying, and said, "Truly I say unto you, today you shall be with me in paradise!"

I have to admit that I had never considered myself to be in the category of those two thieves.  I mean, I was a good man, most of the time.  I had not ever hurt anyone, not really.  I was a nice guy all around.  I came to this conclusion many years ago.  But I have to admit something else.  I realize now, after aging but not necessarily getting any wiser, that I did belong up there on the cross.  Years after making mistakes, not learning from those mistakes, and making the same ones again, I had practically nailed myself up there.  And I have come to another realization.  As my condition worsened, I was more like the thief on the left.  He was in the same boat as was his friend, so to speak, but even in that terrible predicament, he chose not to acknowledge the Lord and beg for his mercy, but to join in with the rest of the world in mocking the dying Savior, never realizing that the Lord was dying for him.  The Bible never mentions the final fate of the thief on the left. But from what the Bible DOES NOT say, I fear the worst for that thief, the one who rejected Jesus on the cross.

I have heard it said many times over the years that pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit goes before a fall.  I believe the thief on the left had a strong, though distorted, sense of pride.  Not necessarily pride in what he had done in his life, but pride in the fact that he needed no one.  Certainly he did not need a Savior.  What an idiot...ummm...wait a minute.  Wasn't I a relatively good man too?  Some people might disagree, but on the whole I believed myself to be a good person, thus not in need of saving...at least not in the way "sinners" needed saving.  In other words, I was so good myself that I did not need Jesus.  In other words, I had a strong, but distorted, sense of pride.

Here is a shocker...
After the events of the past year in my life, I realized I DID have a distorted sense of pride, just like that thief on the left.  But I realized something else.  I realized that I had not been a good man many times over the years.  I truly had not learned from my mistakes, and had not corrected my ways.  And I saw the three men on the cross in a new light. 

For one thing, Jesus would not have been crucified that day at all, if Pilate had not offered to release Barabbas.  And if the people had not preferred a murderer to a Savior.  So a killer was freed from prison and Jesus was seized, taking the place of Barabbas on that cross.

For the man that hung on the Lord's right, this day, the day of his crucifixion, was actually the day his life was saved.  Yes, his body died on the cross, but he went with Jesus to paradise.  How tragic for him if Barabbas had been crucified that day instead of Jesus?

Finally, for me, the realization that I was the same as those two men that died with Jesus.  I was full of pride and the belief that I had not hurt anyone over the years, that I had lived the best way I could, etc.  But I was only lying to myself and deceiving no one.  Thankfully, like the man on the Lord's right hand, even late in life it is not too late to acknowledge the Lord, and to ask the Good Shepherd to Remember Me....

How wonderful to hear those words, "This day you shall be with Me in Paradise."

I hope all of you had a great Easter, and I hope all of you took just a little time to look beyond the eggs and the baskets, and that you saw the true Gift of Easter.

Three People Died - Obama Salutes ONLY The Dictator of Venezuela

The past week has seen the death of at least three prominent people in the United States.  Of course there were many more deaths than this, and I suppose "prominent" is relative.  Anyone who loses a loved one believes (and rightly so) that the loved one was prominent.  But here I am talking about those persons that are either famous in their own right, infamous in their own right, or made prominent by the circumstances of their death (unfortunately instead of their life).

One person who passed away this past week was a very renowned pianist, probably one of the best of this century, maybe one of the best of all time.  Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr., or Van Cliburn, as the world knows him, played his music for presidents and kings, even for Soviet leaders...and the Soviet people as well.  Van Cliburn developed a love for the Russian people, and they loved his music.  He was loved in America as well.  He was a recognized and accomplished pianist by the age of twenty-three, still a young man when Liberace was in his prime.  Van Cliburn was not as flamboyant as Liberace, but certainly Liberace's equal in talent.  With Van Cliburn's passing, two nations that for the past sixty years have only eyed each other with suspicion, had to pause briefly in their mutual distrust as both nations mourned their great loss.  Van Cliburn will be missed, but of course his music lives on, and will only gain in appreciation with the passage of time.  Many "powerful" and "prominent" people attended Van Cliburn's funeral, with the keynote speaker being George W. Bush.

Another person who passed away last week was of the "infamous" variety, at least from my perspective, and that of many freedom lovers around the world, Hugo Chavez, the apparent President-For-Life of Venezuela and avowed adversary of the United States.  President Chavez, as is usual, came in to power heralding himself as the friend of the people, etc., but proceeded with a socialist agenda that curbed capitalism in Venezuela.  After reducing the freedom of the people, of commerce, and of politics in his own country, Mr. Chavez also did his best to foment revolutions in Columbia and Ecuador, causing strife in both of those nations.  He aligned himself with Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and of course the Castro Brothers in Cuba.  This "friend of the people" had by the turn of this century become the de facto dictator of Venezuela, and probably would have continued as such for another half-century, if he had not succumbed to cancer.  This dictator, who curtailed much freedom and caused much strife, was hailed by one US Congressman as a "liberator" and a "shining light" in South America.  Our own President, who did not acknowledge Van Cliburn's passing, sent a delegation of praise-dripping politicos to President Chavez's funeral.

Oh yes, there was one more person who passed away last week, who is very worthy of mention, and whose passing, like Van Cliburn's, went unnoticed by the President of the United States.  That man was Navy Seal Christopher Kyle, known as the Navy's Deadliest Sniper.  Chris Kyle was killed by a fellow veteran, a young man whom Mr. Kyle had befriended and was trying to help in adjusting to civilian life once again.  This man shot Kyle and another man, Chad Littlefield, while the young man was in some sort of mental distress.  Mr. Kyle, an honored member of our armed forces, had placed his life on the line many times over the years, fighting for the rights of the people, the same rights that President Chavez sought to curtail, for which our President felt deserved a US delegation.  Again, President Obama did nothing for and said nothing about Mr. Kyle, did not honor him in any way.  It is obvious where our President's values and priorities lie, and that is not with our own service men and women, or even our own famous and talented musicians.  No, Mr. Obama's sentiments and loyalties are with the dictators and political strong-men of the world.  I suppose this is no big wonder, given President Obama's disdain and continual disregard for the Constitution.  I wonder if President Obama will, in the coming years, be held in the same regard as the strongmen of Central and South America, Africa, and Asia - a position he seems so desperately to desire.

 

Meteor Explodes Over Russia - Meteorites Hit The Deck

In what will surely be one of the truly amazing natural events of this new century, a huge meteor smashed through the atmosphere over Asia then exploded while it was still over eighteen miles above the earth.  Pieces of the meteorite were found near Chelyabinsk, just about nine hundred miles east of Moscow.  Over one thousand people in Chelyabinsk were treated for various injuries, most for glass fragments in their bodies.  The force of the meteor's explosion was actually equal to that of several atomic bombs.

On Sunday, Russian scientists were already collecting samples of the meteorites.  For many scientists, as well as many laymen, this event - though extraordinary, and probably of the "once in a lifetime" variety, was quickly recognized for what it was - an extraordinary event.  A NATURAL event.  Yet many other Russians, particularly older folks, were convinced that World War III had started, that the United States had finally "pushed the button."  Others, convinced of this same thing, were not "hysterical old ladies" as one source quoted, but were young men and women who believed that their government is not telling them the truth. Hmmm...I wonder what ever gave them the idea that their government MIGHT lie to them.

As I was searching the 'Net for reliable information about the meteor, it was difficult not to find the other stories as well.  The truth is amazing enough: For example, it is believed that the meteor, before it exploded, weight over ten thousand pounds, or ten tons.  Of course the explosion, as terrifying as it was, actually saved the earth from any major damage.  Some of the meteorites found have measured over a meter across.  According to the Russian scientists, each separate meteorite still generated forces equal to several tons of TNT.

But what when the seemingly "unexplainable" happens, "explanations" that are less than credible abound.  For instance, one Russian conspiracy mill spread the word that the United States had tested a secret weapon - one that could produce limitless fire and explosions.  On the other hand, several elderly Russian ladies caught the local police chief and warned him through no uncertain terms that the end of the world was in progress as proven by "fire falling from the sky." Of course stories of "Alien Invasion" spread rapidly as well.

Unfortunately, there was one scenario that was proffered, and that WAS credible, and was VERY SCARY for the Russians, and for US, the United States, as well.  You see, this meteor crossed Russian skies in the morning, but yet in broad daylight, as the work day had just started.  The meteor streaking across the sky that morning resembled very closely a cruise missile.  Now you can see how this event took a scary and nearly disastrous turn.  The Russian defense network took this perceived threat very seriously.  Fortunately cool heads prevailed, as the speed and size of the object were taken into consideration.  A cruise missile does not weigh in at 10,000 tons nor does it travel at speeds exceeding 30,000 miles per hour.  These facts were already known before the meteor exploded.

I guess we will never know how close this event came to being an...er...world-changing event.  I can only imagine what the outcome would have been had the meteor exploded without having been tracked before the explosion, which was believed to have been at an altitude of over 18 miles above the Siberian country, another factor precluding the cruise missile attack theory.  But this once in a lifetime event could have had a more dire outcome.  In the three decades since the collapse of the old Soviet Union, a lot has changed.  Fortunately, one of those changes has been the more relaxed feelings, and maybe a little trust by both nations towards each other.  I grew up under the shadow of MAD, or "mutually assured destruction."  Since the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, both the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics stood poised to enact MAD, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year.  I am so thankful for the good meteor's decision not to fall over Siberia until the year 2013. 

So, instead of MAD, we were treated to the effects of a fairly large meteor crossing the skies in daylight, blowing up miles overhead, and raining fragments down on a city, all the while without causing a single fatality, that we know of.  Russian scientists now have a treasure trove of meteorites to examine, and the glass makers of Siberia have customers for at least the next year.  And we have a great example of how cool heads prevailed, cooperation and honesty between American and Russian authorities won the day, and MAD was held off for who knows how long.  The very thing could happen over this great nation of ours, and should this happen, I hope and pray that cool heads again will assess the situation, overcome the doubt and mistrust, and that the space rocks will fall without causing to much pain and suffering for those at "Ground Zero."

Gun Control, Sheriff Painter, and Selective Law Enforcment

This is my Letter To The Editor after reading an Op-Ed in Midland Reporter Telegram in which an editor criticized Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter after the Sheriff stated that he would not allow his deputies to enforce any federal gun control laws that might someday be enacted, if such laws violated the United States Constitution.  The MRT was right on top of this one, and tried to put Mr. Painter in his place.  But the Paper found itself at odds with its readers.  Too bad, subscription rates are on the decrease anyway.

My letter:

Dear Editor,
The Sheriff has every right and has the DUTY not to enforce any law that is patently unconstitutional. And, as usual, you Editors are attacking a local leader for standing against President Obama, the most unpatriotic and most law-breaking president we have ever had. Our President has taken it upon himself to decide when and where to murder American citizens via drone attack without allowing those citizens to avail themselves of their rights to due process. Sheriff Painter is correctly asserting that he will not allow his officers to enforce a law that on its very face would violate the Second Amendment as well as Fourth and Eighth Amendments. In fact, if local peace officers acted on the hypothetical gun confiscation law, they themselves would be arrested for violating the above Amendments.

Your hypocrisy shouts out loudly, dear Editor. You are upbraiding the Sheriff for his stance on a law that has not been enacted while you remain so very LOUDLY MUTE on the President's ...er...selective FEDERAL law enforcement, and that of laws that ARE ON THE BOOKS.

On another issue, the MRT has been DEAFENLY SILENT as well, that being the President's God-like decision that he, or any president, has the right to decide when and where he will murder American citizens via the use of aerial drones. And this IS NOT HYPOTHETICAL. At least two American citizens have been killed by drones ON THE ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT, but the MRT chose to be SELECTIVE in its news coverage on this story. I might add here, Mr. Obama's actions are certainly impeachable. President Nixon only ordered an illegal burglary operation and chose to resign in front of the impeachment and removal that was headed his way.

I am curious why the MRT has SELECTED to denigrate Sheriff Painter by giving him his own special de-endorsement editorial but has been so MUTE on President Obama's selective Federal law enforcement (immigration, justice, border security, and the list could go on) and his criminal killing of two American citizens by Drone Attack. I suppose the MRT must shed light on the "important issues" like Sheriff Painter standing up for the United States Constitution. OMG...What was the Sheriff THINKING!


Read more: Editorial: Enforcing the law isn’t optional - Mywesttexas.com: Top Stories http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_41007fb4-7b85-11e2-8673-0019bb2963f4.html?success=1#ixzz2LYG9Hoyy
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This Sunday At Church or A Four-Year-Old's Wisdom

In this past Sunday Morning's church service one of the men of the congregation told the story of a young girl who was only about four years old. Apparently just before Christmas the little girl's father explained to her the true meaning of that day, that God has sent his only son Jesus Christ to the earth. Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary in a manger in Bethlehem nearly 2000 years ago. The father went on to explain to his little girl that God had sent Jesus to be our Savior because God loved us so much. This is why, the father explained, that we give each other gifts on Christmas day, as a way of showing our love for each other.

It so happened a few days later as the father and his little girl were driving down one of the neighborhood streets they passed a church building. The little girl noticed that in front of this church building there was a sculpture of a man hanging on a cross.  The father explained to his daughter that Jesus was hung on the cross by the Roman soldiers because Jesus had traveled through Israel preaching the gospel. Jesus told the people that He was the only way to heaven and that He had come to the world to save all people from sin. Not only the Roman government, but the Jewish people wanted Jesus to stop preaching.  When he would not, he was crucified.  The father went on to explain to his daughter that Jesus became the sacrifice for all of us so that we could all be saved from our sins and that we could all go to heaven one day.

As they drove on, the little girl asked her father why she did not have to go to school that day. The girl's father explained to her that this was Martin Luther King Day, a national holiday celebrating the life and contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr. Her father told her how Martin Luther King Jr. had had gone across the United States preaching the gospel and declaring that all men should learn to love each other and to get along in the world together. The little girl ask what happened to Martin Luther King, Jr? The father then very gently explained to his daughter that Mr. King had been assassinated because of the things he said and believed.  The little girl thought to herself for a moment then said
"But Daddy, isn't that what they did to Jesus?"

I have to tell you that this story brought the church to silence and maybe brought tears to the eyes of some of the people there. I have to admit that I had never thought of Martin Luther King Jr. in those terms.  I was a child when he was crusading, and of course I heard the White adults of my generation for the most part saying that Mr. King should "keep in his place."  I was only seven years old that day in April 1968 when the news reports started flooding our television.  Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. True, he was not hung upon the cross (literally) and true he was not the world's savior (literally), but MLK truly had a cross to bear, and in a sense, he was a kind of savior, as he was concerned for all people.

Decades later, I can look back on MLK and what he stood for in my own eyes, from my own point of view, separate from the attitudes of most of White America at that earlier time, and outside the shadows cast on this man by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.  And I was glad to be in the church service that Sunday morning, to hear what Martin Luther King, Jr. stood for, in the eyes of that little girl.  I guess in the Sixties most people could not hear Martin Luther King Jr's real message because of their own attitudes, prejudices, and fears.  As I sat in that church building, it seemed like I could hear Mr. King in that clear, ringing voice saying:

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Mr. King bore a cross, and that cross was the message he made his mission to spread, that we were all children of God and that God loved all of us equally.  That being the truth, then it followed that all men and women should be treated equally, not just under "the law," but in God's sight as well.  Mr. King's message was one that many leaders as well as many of the common people did not want to hear at the time.  Some people hated Mr. King's message so much that they began to hate the man as well. Persecution followed, both by the government and by the people.  But Mr. King carried his message on, no matter the cost to himself.  And what many people of the time did not want to acknowledge was that Mr. King was doing the Lord's work as well, spreading the Gospel along with the call for equal rights and fairness for everyone.  Above all, Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned and longed for a time when all the people could live and love united.

Like Jesus, it is very likely that Martin Luther King, Jr. saw the inevitability of his own death, his blood shed for the message he brought. Just before Mr. King was murdered, he made another famous speech that included these words:

And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? ... Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't really matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.^[1]

MLK had a shining quality about him, and a grand vision of which he never lost sight.  He truly feared death no longer, because he had somehow seen that glorious place that waited for him over that mountaintop.  As amazing as was the man and the life he led, as well as the death he died, was the insight of this four-year-old girl. With the innocence of the young, she saw the blessing that Mr. King left all of us.  True, the gift of the Good Shepherd of course outshines anything on this side of heaven, but how blessed was that church congregation this past Sunday, to see the brightness of MLK's reflection in the face of this little child.

Rogue Ex-Cop Christoper Dorner Was The VICTIM?

One of the darkest incidents in law enforcement history came to a fiery close last week with the death of former LA cop Christoper Dorner.  Dorner, a Black man, had come to believe during his time with the LA PD that he had been the victim of both racism and police corruption within that department.  Apparently at least a few others believed this, as well.  Even as the cabin in Big Bear Lake, California still smoldered, Dorner supporters were "rallying" at LA PD headquarters.  One man said he disagreed with Dorner's "methods" of making his point, but agreed that Dorner had tried to overcome the supposed racism and favoritism he encountered in his police career in Los Angeles.  This same gentleman decried the fact that the officers who pursued Dorner into that wooden cabin had become "the prosecutor, judge, and jury," a reference to the fact that Dorner died of a gun shot wound during the standoff.

Of course I, and the gentleman mentioned above for that matter, have no personal knowledge of whether or not Dorner was mistreated by LA PD.  But the entire nation knows from Dorner's own words that he HIMSELF had become prosecutor, judge, and jury of all the people he WANTED to kill, as well the several people that he did kill prior to his own demise.  Dorner has a website with his "manifesto" regarding his mistreatment and also his plans for revenge.  I suppose this website could shed more information, but I for one refuse to give his website another "hit."  Nothing he has to say on the website could be SO PROFOUND as to justify his "vengeance." 

Here is what I do know about this poor excuse for a police officer:
He made it a point during his killing spree never to face a police officer in a gunfight, but rather to ambush his targets at their most vulnerable moment.  For instance, Dorner bravely ambushed the daughter of a police officer and her boyfriend, who was also a police officer.  Evidence found by police showed that Dorner had obtained as much information about both the young lady and the young police officer as he could, and that he had even gone so far as to to stake them out and study their daily habits.  He killed the officer (who, by the way, had nothing to do with the LA PD Review Board that upheld Dorner's termination) and the young woman while they stood outside their cars talking to each other, apparently having just come home from work.  They were simply executed. Dorner faced no danger in that murder.

Later on, for you worshippers of Dorner, your HERO pulled up beside a patrol car at a red light.  The two officers in that vehicle were not involved in the Review Board, were not related to anyone on the LA police force, NOR were they LA cops.  Dorner coolly fired a shot into the driver officer's head, killing him on the spot.  He shot the other officer as well.  This officer went down from the shot, but survived. Meanwhile, Dorner calmly drove away into the night.  In fact, the only officer Dorner killed in a "heads up" situation was a San Bernardino Sheriff's Deputy who was part of the group of officers closing in on Dorner at Big Bear Lake.  Even this murder was not really "face to face" as Dorner fired wildly at several officers as he HID in the cabin that became his fiery grave.

I will not mention this murderer's name again in this blog or any future one.  He called himself a policeman but was in the end just a thug and a murderer.  I hope most of the people of this nation will share in the grief that the loved ones of all these victims are feeling right now.  I hope that those who hold this murderer up as a hero will someday come to realize that this "hero" chose to kill four innocent people rather than pursue his desire for vindication through the normal and legal channels available to him.  Was he treated unjustly by LA PD? Most of us will never know, but we all know that LA PD is one of the most lawsuit bound law enforcement agencies in the nation.  Surely this murderer knew he had several LEGAL alternatives to his cruel, heartless, and most cowardly actions.  With the target of his anger being LA PD, no doubt many a high-profile attorney would have accepted such a lawsuit "pro bono" just to give that organization another black eye.

I use this blog to honor the victims of this murderer, both the police officers and the citizen who died only because she was related to a police officer.  And I honor those officers, who in the very Shadow of Death, faced this murderer and put an end to his rampage before this man could kill other innocent people.  Was the murderer a VICTIM? No, he was just a common killer in the end; he was certainly no hero, either.  More importantly, were those officers acting as this murderer's judge, jury, and executioner? NO SIR! They were NOT!  These brave officers were simply doing their job.  They were protecting you and me from a most dangerous person.  Yes, these officers were ready to use deadly force to stop the threat and to defend themselves, but it was the murderer himself who completed their job.  He used the minimum force necessary to stop a deadly situation.  If only he had resorted to this deadly force BEFORE killing those four innocent persons.  As for the victims, those real people murdered by this man, may they rest in peace in the arms of the Good Shepherd.

I pray for the safety of police officers all over this nation, as they face dangerous and deadly situations day in and day out.  Some will be placed in that moment of decision before the "ink" on this page has dried this very morning.