History Lessons

I am currently reading a book by Jon Meacham about president Andrew Jackson call American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.

Meacham is not a conservative author by any means by I am struck by the content of his book. Our history is so steeped in Christian heritage that he has spent the first one third of the book describing a moral dilemma President Jackson faced in his own cabinet.

Seems one of his cabinet members, John Eaton, married a woman of poor reputation. It was rumored that she had conceived a child through an adulteress affair and had had many male partners in her young life. The scandal played havoc in his first administration.

My observation is this. If we were not a nation guided by Christian morality there would have been no controversy would there? We had very Christian beginnings.

I'm not condoning or condemning the treatment Mrs. Eaton got. I'm saying there would not have been a scandal had there not been high moral standards in that day.

The standard that they embraced and that was thought to be violated was this: sex was to be enjoyed only in the bonds of marriage. Only in the security of a family should a child be born. In Jackson's day there were no social programs to support someone who strayed from the protection of this moral standard. Destitution defined those who did.

It was also considered a lack of character for someone to engage in reckless behavior for such momentary self gratification when the stakes were so high.

We have come a long way. We think nothing of this kind of behavior now and fully expect too write the check for it. In doing this we encourage the bad behavior. All parties are damaged in the process, including the children born.

Since we cannot teach a strict abstinence morality in schools these days, because you know we are not a Christian nation, we can expect you men to feel at liberty with young ladies. The destitution of fatherless children will continue to grow in our country.

If only we could learn from our own history.

I can't end this without making an appeal to young men. I beg you, do not demean and defame the rites of manhood before you have the substance of character to make good on the commitment required to really go "all the way."

Obamacare Patriotism

Couldn't pass this without commenting.

Michael Moore is making foolish and dishonest defense of Obamacare. It is interesting that he is now admitting there will be longer waits for medical care. I don't remember this being mentioned before the bill passed, at least not by Moore.

Michael Moore defends Obamacare and healthcare programs similar to it around the world. Moore says the only "things you maybe have to wait for" are a knee replacement surgery or cataracts.

"Things that are not life-threatening," Moore said on HBO's "Real Time" with host Bill Maher. "The reason why you have to wait sometimes in those countries is they let everybody in the line. We make 50 million people out of the line so the line is shorter, so sometimes you have to wait as long. If you are a patriotic American, you want every American to be covered the same as you. No, not 'I'm going to get ahead because I have health insurance and they don't,'" Michael Moore explained.

The fact is no one was out of the line. Everyone can get medical care in the US even if they do not have insurance. It is not that we are adding 50 million people to the line, it is that we are reducing hundreds of lines to one. Hundreds of private health insurance providers are being whittled down to one, the US government. And thousands of health care providers are being reduced to who knows how few because the incentive to go into the medical profession has been greatly reduce along with the doctor's income potential.

It's not that there are more in line. It's that there will be fewer lines.

So friends, your patiently enduring a bad policy that will certainly hasten our financial ruin is you mark of patriotism.

I would rather think that saving the country from this disastrous bill would be more patriotic.

Shorter waits for medical care are just a bonus.

Spontaneous Patriotism

I love spontaneous patriotism...