Thursday, December 13, 2012

God's Welfare Program

I wrote this (poem? proverb? witticism?) in 2006.  I don't know what the circumstances were at the time, maybe a political discussion on the welfare state.  It seems even more pertinent now.

GOD'S WELFARE PROGRAM

Show up to work when you are WELL.
Show up to work when you are FAIR.
It is the only FAIR program that turns out WELL.

Victor Mowery - September 1, 2006

II Thessalonians 3:10 - For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
As for me, I am neither WELL nor FAIR, but very POOR in health this week.  I pray to be better in time for special Christmas services this coming Sunday.

VM

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Barack Obama's Kin-Folks -OR- How to Tell if You Have B.O.

Barack Obama's Kin-Folks -OR- How to Tell if You Have B.O.


A couple of big questions in recent years have concerned President Barack Obama's birth and heritage.  The first big question was, "Where was he really born?"  More recently, a new film has come out claiming that his father is not really who everyone thought he was.  Could Mr. Obama have relatives he doesn't even know about, or who don't know about their relation to him?

If we were to judge on actions alone, without doing any DNA or blood testing, I think we might find a lot of Barack Obama's kin-folks around.  There are people everywhere who act just like him -- not just people down in the ghetto or "the hood," but people walking and living among us on every social and economic level.  They are our neighbors, our friends, our fellow church-members, and ("GASP!") even some of our leaders.  They are people to whom we have entrusted a part of our lives.  But they act just like Obama!

I know some of these kin-folks of Obama.  A young man I once knew was like Obama in a lot of ways.  A former boss of mine from years ago acted just like him.  It is really noticeable in people of authority, like managers, husbands, parents, grandparents, police officers, judges, politicians and others.  Police detectives and lawyers seem to be especially prone toward it (we will see why in the symptoms below).

There are even men in the Christian ministry who act just like Barack Obama.  Their ministries or churches tend to become very cultish, by the way.

The ironic or funny part about all of this is that most of those people cannot stand Barack Obama.  Wouldn't their jaws drop and their eyes bulge if they were told they acted just like him?  I imagine Mitt Romney was surprised to find out he was related to Obama.  I think these people would also be very surprised -- and probably very irritated.

I have come up with a name for the symptoms of those who act like they are the kin-folks of President Obama.  I call it "Barack Obama-itis."  We will call it "B.O." for short.

Do you have B.O.?  Like another form of B.O. (Body Odor), it is usually hard to tell if you have Barack Obama-itis.  With Body Odor, you are used to smelling your own smell, and it builds up gradually over time so you just don't notice it.  That is how Barack Obama-itis seems to be.  Those who have it don't even realize it, and usually can't be made to realize it.

Because B.O. is hard to self-diagnose, I have come up with a handy guide to the symptoms of B.O.  But here is the problem: most people with B.O. will read through the list below and never apply it to themselves.  They will instead be thinking, "Yep, that describes somebody I know."

Nevertheless, as a public service to the community, in the hopes of eradicating B.O. forever, I publish the symptom guide below.

How to Tell if You Have B.O. (Barack Obama-itis):


You constantly blame others for your own failures.


If you are a person in authority or with an entrusted responsibility, you blame your predecessor for your failure to accomplish your job, just like President Obama does: "The previous administration left us a big mess... President Bush did it... blah blah blah."  You even make them the scapegoat for your worst public failures: "The Fast and Furious gun-walking program started under President Bush."  Never mind that the public record says otherwise; there are enough people who will believe you.

Quack doctors and unscrupulous chiropractors do this predecessor blaming:  "Wow, you have been under really bad medical care for a long, long time.  No wonder I'm having so much trouble helping you."

Ministers and counselors: "That last guy really messed you up bad.  So any problems I run into with you must be his fault."

If you are involved in a disagreement of some kind, you blame the other side for the failure to work it out.  "The Republicans blah blah blah.  Speaker Boehner blah blah blah."  You are refusing to listen or consider their side; you are publicly badmouthing them; and still the continuing disagreement is all their fault.  The other side has some kind of major malfunction; something is obviously wrong with them or they would see things your way.  What is their deficiency?  They seem like such normal people except they can't get on board with your agenda!

If there are relationship problems with someone, you may tend to blame a third party who is not even involved.  "That person is the one messing things up so the two of us can't get this worked out."  And that person you are talking about doesn't even know what is going on.  They are busy going about their life, but you can blame them because they aren't there to defend themselves.

If you've been playing these blame games, you may be Barack Obama's long lost cousin.  Or you could simply have B.O.

This blame game can only carry you for so long and sooner or later it will all come crashing down.  Can Obama spend the next four years blaming Bush?  Or will he have to spend the next four years blaming the guy in office these last four (himself)?  And so it goes for anybody with B.O.  If they keep on blaming, they will eventually be seen by everyone for the fraud that they are.  It may take some people longer to see it than others, but sooner or later the jig is up.

You vilify the wrong person, never the person close to you or "on your side."


It is a mind-blower that after Muslim terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans and wounding others, President Obama spoke at the United Nations and said, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."  Are you kidding me?  Even if the attacks were really part of a protest over an online video about Islam, can you seriously lay the blame on the video's creator?  Obama can do this because he supports the goals of the Islamists.  He openly supported the "Arab Spring" uprisings of the fascist Muslim Brotherhood.  He continues to send weapons and aid to the terrorist rebels all over the Islamic Middle East.  He is just as angry at America as the terrorists are.  So instead of pointing out that they are the villains, somebody else gets that credit.

This is like the black "community leaders" who excuse black rioters for their actions and instead vilify whomever the riots were about.  The bad guy in the Rodney King riots was the L.A. police chief, not the heathens burning, looting, beating and killing.  Young black men just have "black rage" because of centuries of oppression.  If a gang of black teens goes wild in a New York park and pillages some young white woman, it is probably because of Thomas Jefferson, that slave-holding jerk.  At least that kind of reasoning has come from the black "community leaders" who are infected with B.O.

This is like the naughty school boy's parent who is constantly in the teacher's face instead of taking a realistic look at naughty Little Johnny.

This is like the person who lashes out against those people whom their spouse or children have offended instead of considering whether the fault lies within their own family.  It couldn't be, could it?  My wife/husband/child is always right, so it must be the other person.

Vilify the victim.  Impugn the innocent.  Rally around your "troops" regardless of their wrong.  Because in your mind they're not wrong.  You have B.O.

You devise a theory for everything and spread it as fact.


Whatever happens, especially something that might point to your failures, can be explained away by a convoluted theory, stringing unconnected facts (and assumptions) together, connecting the dots that really weren't there and explaining it all in a way that the simpleminded will not question.  This is how Barack Obama plays it (examples too endless to list here, but think Benghazi/YouTube for starters).  This is how you play it if you have B.O.

This only works if gossip is taking place.  You have to get your facts or assumptions from gossip about those who are the key players in your theory.  Obama has the "intelligence community" providing him with his intel.  You have those you can rely on to bring you news tailored for your burning ears.

You take the gossip to the next level though.  You learn through gossip what someone supposedly said or did, and then you make like you know their motivation for doing so, based on some other questionable gossip or assumptions.  Of course their only motivation for doing so is the one that fits the theory you are devising.

Your theory has to be juicy enough, surprising enough, that those listening to you and believing your theory do not take the time to wonder how you could read the other people's minds or hearts.  Your theory has to be such a shocking revelation that emotions take over in your listeners and logical analysis falls by the wayside.  If it is horrible enough, nobody will even want to ask your scapegoat about it.

Here is the simple version of how it works.  If you are like Obama, you take your intel (gossip), string together a few other "facts" or assumptions, wrap it all up with what you think you know about some body's motivation or thinking, and hand off the entire package to others, gift wrapped as unchallengeable fact.  And if anybody challenges it, you brand them as having some hidden motive.

Isn't it a good thing you are not a police detective or a prosecutor?  You would never have a case go unsolved.  Somebody would always be the target of your theory and somebody would always be made to look guilty.  You cannot simply NOT solve the case.  That would be a failure on your part.  That must never happen.  Somebody is going down!

The target of your theory may have actually been guilty of something.  They may have done something wrong.  In fact, they usually have.  But like Obama, when you stepped into the situation you bungled something somewhere along the line, so you have to spin the other person's guilt into something much larger that obscures your failures.

Were you born in Kenya?  Or Hawaii?  Were you raised in Indonesia?  Is Obama your half-brother?  Because you sure have a stinking case of B.O.

Your theory always trumps the facts or any other possible explanation.


Like Obama, in your world you are always right.  Any facts that contradict you simply must be untrue.  Any explanation that makes more sense to others than your theory has to be explained away.

You. Must. Not. Be. Wrong!!!

Check yourself for B.O.

Almost nobody can ever change your mind.


You have countless discussions with other people to get them to change their mind and come to your way of thinking.  But it never occurred to you that you might need to change your mind.  You have B.O.

You ambiguously act like you agree (for now).


In these countless discussions mentioned above, if there are points you cannot refute you simply change the subject.  Or you might say "Okay" or something that seemingly sends a signal of agreement.  But you really do not agree, because the same issue will come up again and your mind has not changed.

You got the person off your back for now.  You didn't have to really deal with the inconvenient truths.  And most importantly (to you), you didn't have to change your mind.

Obama pulls this all the time.  Just watch his debates, for example, but it happens in his daily administration as well.

Corollary: when someone apologizes, you act like you accept their apology and everything is settled.  But you will bring it up again - especially if it can later fit into a theory you are working on.  Maybe even several years later!

B.O. really stinks.

You regularly insist that certain details are irrelevant.


Your focus is on "the big picture" - mainly the big picture which your theory has cooked up.  Any details brought to you that don't fit it are labeled as irrelevant.  Can't everybody stay focused on what you want them to look at?  Why do they have to try to get information from any other source than what you provide?  Anything you didn't tell them is irrelevant to the discussion.  Why do they insist on bringing in outside facts that you have not approved?

Additionally, when you are asked for details to support your notions, you stonewall.  You cannot produce anything concrete.  Or you refuse to for reasons known only to you.  Those who will accept your packaged gossip are just given it.  Those who will not accept it and ask for confirmed facts will have to be put off somehow.  For a while you can just ignore them; maybe for long enough that it no longer matters.

This is how Obama handles Congressional inquiries into his various dirty deeds.  This is how you handle the people trying to sort out the messes you're involved in.

Are you sure you are not even cousins with Obama?

Everybody has to come to your way of thinking.


The "fiscal cliff" talks are a perfect example of many that could be given.  Obama is just willing to let the disaster happen unless the other side caves in to his way.  That's how little he cares about our country and how much he cares about his own agenda.

If you are infected with B.O., that's how you are as well.  The good of your nation, or perhaps other people's relationships, or maybe your church, or any other interests are not as important as your need to have others think exactly like you on some issue.  Of course you are correct.  And they need to be correct as well, so they have to think like you.

Are you infected?  Are you Obama's Kin?


It must be really surprising to some people to realize they constantly act just like Barack Obama.  Isn't it ironic that some of Obama's biggest foes are just like him?  We can point them out in the Congress.  We can also point them out at political rallies, behind the news desk, in the editorials, behind church pulpits, in the corporate office, everywhere you look.

It is time to get rid of B.O.  If you are infected, take a bath in the truth.  Don't forget to wash your filthy ears.  Don't forget to soak your dirty mind.  Don't forget to scrub your impenitent heart.

B.O. stinks.  If you have it, don't think others don't smell it.

VM
December 2012