Presidential Quotes

Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.
George Washington 

When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth - then all Americans are in peril.
Harry S. Truman 

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln 

Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
Ronald Reagan 

When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.
Herbert Hoover 

I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby.
Barack Obama 

Red Sector 'A'merikha

There is this moment in Holy Scripture which has always intrigued me. It is when Jesus is standing before Pontius Pilate and Pilate asks, "Truth? What is truth?"

I have come to accept multiple interpretations of this question (or remark), but the fact in all of them remains that Pilate does not recognize THE Truth standing in front of him.

Oh America, we have discarded the Truth long ago; cast Him aside in the name of so-called "freedom". Our desire to find faith in ourselves rather than God, combined with our attempt to create our own freedom, a false freedom, has blinded us to much lesser but important truths.

We are not who we once were, and this did not just happen overnight. It did not happen in the last couple of election cycles. It has been a slow, gradual process. Even now, the reality is too much for many to endure. Worse, the reality is ignored by those who wish to continue under the United States of Agnosticism.

In the mid 80's, the threat of nuclear annihilation was very real. The USA and the USSR had the capability to make it happen, and their distrust of one another resulted in sophisticated spying and the continuous development of spy technology.

In 1985, 'Rocky IV' hit the theaters. Of course, this is one the least believable plots in the Rocky series, but it did produce a line which was true then and is true now. Brigette Nielsen, cast as the wife of Russian fighter Ivan Drago, exclaims to the US press

"You believe that you are so very good, and that we are so very bad."

Yes, we did. Yes, we still do. At least we want to.

This article about NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden caught my attention. In it, he says

"... the NSA routinely lies in response to congressional inquiries about the scope of surveillance in America. I believe that when [senator Ron] Wyden and [senator Mark] Udall asked about the scale of this, they [the NSA] said it did not have the tools to provide an answer. We do have the tools and I have maps showing where people have been scrutinized most. We collect more digital communications from America than we do from the Russians."

One year before Rocky IV, the band Rush released 'Grace Under Pressure'. Several tracks on the album addressed the state of the world at the time. One track, 'Distant Early Warning' contain the line

"Who can face the knowledge that the truth is not the truth?"

Another track, 'Red Sector A' is about survival in an unnamed prison camp in an unnamed location. While the lyrics are intentionally abstract in order to apply to scenarios outside of the Holocaust, the theme is drawn from he experiences of Bassist/Vocalist Geddy's Lee's mother who was liberated from the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.

"I once asked my mother her first thoughts upon being liberated,” Lee says during a phone conversation. “She didn’t believe [liberation] was possible. She didn’t believe that if there was a society outside the camp how they could allow this to exist, so she believed society was done in." - (How the Holocaust rocked Rush front man Geddy Lee)

Society. How we have changed. Or have we?

Kudos For My Kiddos

I do believe that my two youngest children (8 and 5) are very well-behaved at Mass, and not just for children. Generally, they are better behaved than many adults unfortunately.

Oh, they have their moments as all children do, and particularly when they decide to get in the space of the other. It starts off innocently enough. One decides to hug the other or something like that. The next thing you know, somebody is mad or upset. One of them hugged too long or leaned too hard. If you're a parent, you know what I mean.

Yesterday, my wife was not feeling well and stayed home. Brandon and Monica went to Mass with me, and I have to admit that I was a little concerned about the possibilities the absence of Mom could have on the situation.

While I knew they would be fine through most of the Mass, I was scheduled as Sacristan. Brandon usually "assists" me in this duty before Mass begins, but I needed him to sit with Monica...in the front row...with no adult supervision.

Well, they did great! Monica looked through her Picture Book of the Mass booklet, while Brandon occupied himself with his Mass Kit that we gave him for First Communion.

Phew! But there was one more hurdle, and it would be a big one. As Sacristan, I need to leave my seat at the beginning of the Homily to adjust the number of hosts according to the Mass attendance count. This is normally the time when thy begin to "stir" just a bit.

I had covered the scenario with them before Mass and gently reminded them as I left them alone for the Homily. Then, I watched for a moment from the back of the church before heading to the sacristy. So far, so good.

After I had completed my task, I again observed them from the rear of the church. I was relieved...and surprised that they left my seat, the one between them, open and did not seem to pay the other any attention.

After Mass, some friends of ours came to remark about how well the children behaved while I was not with them, and then they sat and visited with Brandon and Monica while I completed my after-Mass duties.

Later, a few others also remarked about their behavior. Needless to say, I was very proud of both of them, so I figure they deserve to be bragged on just a bit.

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