Author: JD Pendry

A wood burning cook stove held a place in the corner of my Mom’s kitchen. When my middle brother headed off for the Army, I inherited the responsibility to kindle the fire in it every morning. After, of course Mom roused me from beneath the pile of quilts that made up my bed.

Mom’s kitchen was warmed by that old stove whether she cooked anything on it or not. She did have an electric range sitting on the other side of the kitchen. It warmed with the flip of a switch, but certainly lacked the character of the wood burner. My bucket list includes a kitchen with a wood burning cooking stove, if for no other reason but to keep alive cherished memories.

I often find myself thinking of those days. We called them simpler times, a time when life was not so complicated. Truth is the times seem more complicated today than they did last year, or last month or even last week. Times change, but people mostly remain the same.

At this time for giving thanks, we have difficulty deciding for what we should be thankful. Some of us even ponder to whom or to what we should be thankful. I do not know any man or woman’s heart in that regard so I will leave the question to whom or what as something each of us might ponder. It is a time for thankfulness, but so too is it a time for introspect.

Thanksgiving was a special time when I was growing up. Mom’s kitchen was a busy place and even the old wood burner would see some work. We did not run to the store for turkey or ham and there was really no telling what might turn up on the table for dinner. I remember birds losing their heads over the matter, being scalded, plucked, singed, dressed and put in the oven. There would be ham from a hog that I dutifully slopped one time or another and as hunting season was on there was no anticipating what else might show up. As long as there was Mom’s potato salad, sweet potatoes, banana pudding, chocolate pie and big fat yeast rolls, I was set. It was a time to be thankful and I was taught a time to count my many blessings and to count them one by one.

I am thankful that I was born an American. I am thankful for our founders and their brilliance in examining the reasons other nations and forms of government failed and from that examination designing for us the most effective form of government ever. It is a system designed to right itself when led astray by unscrupulous people, but as they warned us a government that only works for a moral, law abiding citizenry.

I am thankful for the men and women who sacrificed throughout our nation’s history, from the very beginning up to this very day to secure and preserve freedom in this land and others.

I am thankful for the honesty of those I count as my friends. Friends who do not fear telling me the truth, otherwise they would not be friends.

In this life, I certainly feel blessed and certainly more than I deserve. Through life’s trials, situations that for me could have turned disastrous did not. There have been times when I have felt wronged or to some degree rejected only to find the new path on which I was placed a better one – the right one. I believe we all have a path to travel and as long as we stay on the right trail things will work out. I am thankful for that bit of life’s wisdom and my belief of its origin.

I am thankful for the family values taught me at times of lighting that wood burner and the honesty and work ethic I saw each day from my Dad. I am thankful for the best wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren a man could be blessed to have.

I am thankful for the faith that just as people find the right path to travel our country will also find its way.

Take time to gives thanks this week. Count your many blessings. Count them one by one.

To your family from mine, have a blessed Thanksgiving.

© J. D. Pendry 2014 American Journal

This past Veteran’s Day, a dear and trusted friend of mine, in her usual subtle manner, suggested I return to my roots when writing. I spent this morning perusing the Bunker archives. It just may be that my honest broker and most favored critic is correct and I have wandered some. Thank you my good friend for the reality check.

From the Bunker Archives:

Some days, I need time and a quiet place to think. When I do, I find a nearby holler and drive the pick-up truck up it. Usually, I can find a good place to sort things out. Yes, we call them hollers over here in Wild Wonderful. Not hollows. A holler is a narrow valley carved out from a creek flowing through it. The local folk might call the creek a branch so if you come visiting and someone tells you a branch washed over the road, don’t go looking for tree limbs. A narrow road usually trails along side of the creek. Wherever the landscape is wide enough or flat enough to allow for it, houses spring up. They used to be old wood framed, clapboard houses, but nowadays you’re likely to find a double wide or one of those new modular homes. A person doesn’t live in the holler, they live up it. The entrance to the holler is the mouth and when you run out of road, you’re at the head of it. Consider that as your free holler geography lesson. Jerry West, NBA Hall of Famer, is one of our most famous holler folk. He’s from Cabin Creek. There are other famous holler folk out there among you (thankfully), but those who’ve left generally don’t brag much about their humble holler beginnings.

Hollers are more advanced today than they were when I grew up on Skin Fork. They’re mostly paved now. I remember them being dirt that was occasionally sprayed with a mixture of water and oil by the county road crews to keep the dust down. The environmentalists would have a conniption fit about that nowadays. It’s common to find cable television, satellites and yes, even the Internet up most hollers. Our holler folk are as well informed as most, but they’re happy about the distance they are able to keep between themselves and say Paris Hilton. Up hollers, you might find hogs still being slopped, cows milked by hand and hound dogs that are not leashed or caged. Holler life is maybe the last vestige of sanity and peaceful living one can find.

Traveling up the holler, it isn’t long before I spot him. He’s always there, sitting on the porch in a straight backed wooden chair. He’s a composition of the influential men in my young life. My Dad, a couple of my uncles and some others I listened to during my holler rearing. He’s wearing bibbed overalls of faded denim and a red and black checked flannel shirt. On the back of his head sits an old train engineer’s cap, cocked slightly to the right. He’s wearing a pair of ankle high work boots, might even be steel toes. Hanging out of one of his rear pockets is a red bandanna. In the pouch pocket on the front of his bibs is his smoking tobacco and a plug of chew. The smoking tobacco isn’t anything fancy. In my younger days, it would have been Prince Albert in a can or Bugler Boy. He might stuff it in a pipe to smoke it or roll his own. Either way, when this tobacco is smoldering it smells like someone lit a cat. The chew is Union Workman or Mail Pouch, neither are brands for the meek. His look hasn’t changed over the years and I expect his outlook hasn’t changed much either. He’s honest, straightforward and not too complicated.

Lying on the porch beside him is an old hound dog of no discernible pedigree. Could be part beagle from the long snout, big ears and eyes. Maybe part red bone from the drooping jowls and the color of his face. Then again, the slender waist and speckled markings makes you think there might have been a blue tick in the family. Holler folk will just call him a hound dog and leave it at that. If he can hole a groundhog or chase a rabbit from a thicket or a prowler from the back yard no one much cares if he’s pure bred or not.

Eventually, these images bring me back to my roots, the perspective from which I most like to sort things out. I’ll find me a quiet spot along the creek, get out of the truck and go sit. I’ll grab a hand full of pebbles, watch the squirrels chasing one another, listen to the birds sing and the running water and ponder the problems of the day while I chuck the pebbles one at a time into the creek. I’ll imagine myself asking the old gentleman about those problems…

“What do you think about this war we’re in?”

“War you say? War is an odd thing. I was in WWII, you know. With General Patton. Every American knew we were in a war for our lives then. Every American knew who the enemy was and knew that we had to beat him to survive. This terrorist thing, now that’s different. It’s a war about us surviving OK, but ‘bout the only people that believe we’re at war are the Soldiers. I don’t expect any terrorist is going to come up this holler and that’s part of the problem. People don’t feel threatened when they should. They can’t point and say there’s the enemy. They cry to high heaven about being searched at the airport and don’t even give up a thought as to why. And the politicians, they’re not much help. They should be out there every day, all of them, pointing Americans toward the enemy, but they ain’t. The next time we’re attacked, instead of figuring out how to fight back they’ll start investigating each other. I just fear the next attack’ll be much worse than the last. But, by then, the last one will have been at least well investigated. Yep, this war’s rather peculiar and I ain’t sure all of us are into winning it.”

“What do you think about the politicians? Especially those trying to be President?”

“I don’t think much about them. They have nothing in common with me, matter of fact, they don’t have much in common with most anyone ‘cept one another. One side’ll tell me how good I got it, the other’ll tell me how bad it is. Problem is, things never changed much one way or the other here in the holler no matter who calls his self President. I just look at’em and ask, do you reckon he’s ever seen an actual hog pen? Or, changed the oil in a truck? Caught a catfish and skinned it? Hoed weeds from a garden? Ever had less than 10 dollars between him and hunger? These people insist they know what I need? Most of’em are politicians for the sake of being politicians and they’ll do desperate things to get what they want. If you find one that you’re convinced is truly interested in taking care of you, me and America, vote for him.”

“What about us Americans as people, are we doing OK?”

He’ll pull out his pocket knife, cut a piece from his chewin’ plug and pop it into his cheek. He’ll hold it there for a while pondering the question while it softens up. He’ll bullseye the spittoon, then he’ll answer.

“I read once where President Lincoln said that God must love common folks, that’s why he made so many of them. Most Americans are common folks. See this old hound a layin’ here? I bet there’s five or six different breeds in this one, if you could even track’em all down. This here’s an American hound dog and just like most men, he’s far from being a pure breed. I’ve seen’im run and hunt with all different kinds of hounds and get along good with all of’em. Now we could call him a Beagle-American hound dog, a Red-bone American hound dog, or some such nonsense, but at the end of the day, he’d still be a hound dog a chasin’ groundhogs and cold biscuits for a livin’. He’s friendly, likes to be scratched behind the ears. Whenever a stranger wanders into the yard though, he’ll be out there to get a smell and make sure he ain’t threatening. When he confronts danger, he turns into a fierce, tenacious animal that defends his territory and won’t quit the fight until it’s over. He never makes a mistake about danger. Men could take lessons from him. Especially nowadays.”

By the time I chuck my last pebble into the creek, it’s suppertime. I hop back into the pick-up and head down the holler. The old-timer’s chair is empty when I pass by this time. I get the image of him sitting supper with the rest of the family, saying grace and giving thanks for what they have and where they are. I take a moment to give my own thanks for the good sense of holler folk. Then I feel better.

Copyright© JD PENDRY 2004 All Rights Reserved

I was raised up in a southern West Virginia holler. If you prefer the English language untainted by West Virginia coal field dialect, you can call that a hollow. It has also been called yeller (yellow) dog Democrat country meaning that if a yellow hound dog was on the ticket as a Democrat, the dog would be elected.

Speaking of hound dogs, every house along the road had one or two, whenever a vehicle passed by a house and raised the dust from the yellow dirt road a hound dog yapping at the wheels would give chase. The most commonly asked question from the front porch was, “What do you reckon he’ll do if he ever catches it?”

For the first time in my life, West Virginia has elected a Republican representing the Congressional district where I was born and raised. Democrat Nick Rahall was a lifelong politician. The only job he ever held was the Congressional seat he inherited from his daddy. He lost to Democrat turned Republican Evan Jenkins, so we have us a technical Republican. It reminds me of politicians like Michael Bloomberg who frequently changed stripes if he thought it would get him elected. So, until Mr. Jenkins shows me otherwise, I expect nothing much different for the coal field district. Hopefully, he will not validate my cynicism.

Across the country political pundits are calling this a wave election. The West Virginia state legislature flipped Republican also. For me, another lifetime first. That happened in other states too, even with governorships.

It is interesting. Here in Wild and Wonderful, Democrats and Republicans alike ran against Obama and the war on coal. Must have been really uncomfortable for the Democrats even the Republican converts.

The President did not appear too impressed. He said he heard the one-third of the voting population that turned out for the election. He said he also heard loud and clear the two-thirds that did not participate. I do not at all believe he heard them. Somehow, in his narcissistic mind he believes that absent two-thirds supports him. Here is what I heard Mr. President, especially from out of work, union, and typically Democrat voting coal miners. What happened to hope? What have you done for me lately? Or maybe it was, “Utopia sucks!” More than likely, it was we are not willing to vote Republican yet so we will sit home and show you what happens when you choose golf over governing and left wing environmentalism over the lives of working people. Republicans, at least the conservative variety, understand that last one. I offer McCain and Romney.

The question for this Republican pack of hound dogs is now that you have it, what are going to do with it?

I am having trouble getting pumped up. Maybe it is too many times disappointed. What I see coming is amnesty repackaged as immigration reform with a promise of border security. A promise we have heard too often and one unfilled from the 80’s. I see talk about tax reform never amounting to much more than cutting corporate tax rates with no changes where it hits my wallet and yours. Talk of repealing Obama care will lessen until it is no more. The insurance lobbyist dollars are too big to resist. If reliance on government is necessary for a bigger surge in energy production, it will not happen. Just as it did not happen the last time Republicans were in charge. The President will do as he pleases for the next two years because impeachment is “off the table.” The Senate will confirm Eric Holder part 2 and ignoring the laws of the land will continue. With the election over, Washington will fall silent on the many scandals and no one will go to prison or even get a strongly worded memo. Country club Republicans will sip cocktails with the Democrats and life in Washington will return to normal – government by the Congress for the Congress.

Or, Republicans, you can prove me wrong.

© 2014 J. D. Pendry American Journal

I am the United States of America, not to be confused with the Continent of the Americas.

Some believe me as merely a vast expansion of land stolen from its rightful owners by invading hoards of disease ridden white Europeans. Others view me as an idea rather than a place. Some believe the prosperity of my people came from wealth stolen from lesser nations. Others believe their prosperity is a result of the exercise of and protection of God-given freedom. Some believe that I, whether place or idea, am the root of all the world’s problems. Others believe I am the last best hope for humankind, a beacon shining out into the darkness of an imprisoned world.

What do you think?

The system of government designed by the founders, the idea behind the place, is unlike any other ever devised by men in the recorded history of earth. Some want to repeatedly call it a democracy. It is not. True democracy fails. Democracy is mob rule best described in this paraphrased quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin. “Democracy is two wolves and one sheep voting on what’s for lunch.” The end is usually in sight when the takers from the treasury outnumber the contributors to it. Also, Mr. Franklin supposedly declared, “Liberty is when the sheep has a gun.” The foundation of this government is individual liberty. The United States of America is the only nation in recorded history to guarantee individual liberty in its founding documents and constitution. It is a government that promises an equal chance for all, but not an equal outcome. This is a Representative Republic.

Others believe that the government should be all controlling. The liberty of the individual must be subjugated to what is good for all – the greater good. And a non-representative government gets to decide what is best for all – not for some unseen “all”, but for you and me. They want to achieve social justice by redistributing wealth and achieving equal outcomes rather than equal chances, or in the modern vernacular “level the playing field.”

What do you think?

Some believe I am Christian nation. God inspired and blessed accordingly. Others do not believe that. Rather they accept that there is no God, or that there are many Gods and the Christian God is just one of the many. Some believe I became a great nation because I was a good nation – a God-fearing and benevolent nation guided by Judeo-Christian values. Others believe I am a despicable nation trying to force values on to individuals and even on to other nations – rather than allowing each individual to choose his own path.

What do you think?

There are atrocities in my past. Slavery and treatment of Native American Indians were likely the most egregious. My detractors do not like to accept that slavery was abolished and what was ended in this land is still practiced in nations across the world. For Native American Indians, rather than integrating them into society, we told them that government will see to all of their needs. According to many of them, the most egregious act ever committed against Native American Indians is naming a football team the “Redskins.” While some will dwell on past atrocities committed on this land, they will never discuss the unspeakable atrocities. The killing of more than 50 million unborn children, the welfare state that has decimated families and generations, moral degradation of society, the collapse of the education system….

What do you think?

My people? A true menagerie. They come from all races, all beliefs, and from all points of the globe. Some will tell you that we should open our doors to all who want to come here because immigrants built this land. It was immigrants, but it was immigrants that embraced the idea of the United States of America rather than the place. It was immigrants escaping from tyranny and abject poverty that came here to embrace the idea and not for promises of welfare and healthcare. When they pledged allegiance, it was to the idea not the place.

God owns freedom. He planted in the hearts of every man and woman. If the idea of God-given freedom leaves this land, God will plant the idea somewhere else. And, another place will shine that beacon to the rest of the world and people will come there seeking it.

I think freedom’s place is right here where God planted it and it is the charge of the citizens of this great nation to be the guardians of it.

What do you think?

© 2014 J. D. Pendry American Journal.

Typically births are registered at some county clerk’s office or other place of record keeping. At death, a certificate of death is issued and if the family or funeral home provides, a local paper might print an obituary. That is about all history records for most. Born, lived, died and sometimes, not even that much. Except for those few records, for however long the span of time between born and died whether days, years or decades it might be hard to prove that we were ever here at all. If it could be proven that we were here, what would history have to say about what we did and how we did it?

Most, whose stories fill the pages of history books, did not set out for that purpose. Wise men know when they are committing acts that history will record. They know too that throughout time, so-called history writers will pervert the truth adding their ideology and sometimes pure fable to the interpretation of historical facts. So much so that notorious criminals and killers become folk heroes and the good that made meaningful contributions to humankind, the birth and growth of nations are scorned as the enemies of human existence.

In this modern time, history is perverted before it is hours old, much less days or years. Sadly, it is perverted by people whose minds were shaped by a perverted history to begin with.

The problem with humans today is that we believe we know everything. We are sophisticated with our technology. We can instant message someone on the other side of the world. We are so sophisticated that the savage barbarians among us can broadcast their acts around the world. In ancient times their terror preceded them from village to village as they murdered and plundered, but now they can broadcast it across the world. Their acts are not new.

People gifted with communication skills, written and oral, for whatever reasons garner large audiences to whom they often provide little more than sheer lunacy for consumption. This is what causes me to turn off most broadcast news and talk programs, and avoid reading many different forms of written news because most of it is fraught with fiction and ideology – and this is what history records and this is what future Americans will come to believe about their country. To say the least, it is disconcerting.

It is humans, the only creatures on the planet who can think and reason, who challenge the laws of nature. For example, humans are the only creatures who kill their unborn. Is it because we are more advanced beings or is it because we decided we are able to change the course of nature if that is our desire and without any repercussions. In some parts of the world where killing the unborn has become a norm comes the advent of euthanasia for the aged as proposes one of the framers of our current healthcare system. This is certainly a human sickness. We do as we please in contravention to the laws of nature and nature’s God. It is only people such as these who believe that man is in control and can challenge the laws of nature that also believes we can destroy an earth we could not create simply by using what God provided for us to use.

The root of it all is the oldest battle. For as long as thinking, reasoning and communicating humans have walked this earth, good and evil have walked it side by side. In your personal life, think back as far as you can remember and you will come to realize that you arrived in this life knowing the difference between right and wrong as did every other human. What causes people to choose evil over good? What causes them to pervert history even as it occurs? What causes them to challenge the laws of nature?

The ongoing battle in our modern and sophisticated world where great problems are solved in 144 written characters or on a reality television program is the war between good and evil. So much so that what is good is called evil and what is evil is called good.

We debate about whether there is a Creator God or whether from nothing we just are. Whether there is a life after death or whether there is just darkness. A debate that can be settled by the only perfect history ever recorded. That is hard to accept for some because to accept it means that everything you are and everything you believe is wrong. And what does history say about you, me, and all the rest of us. Well, it is already written. We cannot change the course of it. To survive it, we are only required to do what it tells us to do. Most of all, it tells us to believe it, trust it, and do not challenge it. It tells us we cannot change yesterday and we cannot predict tomorrow. That only leaves us today to get it right.

© 2104 J. D. Pendry American Journal

I read that 90 percent of the serving members of the United States Armed Forces do not support our coffee cup saluting Commander-in-Chief. There is no survey I am aware of supporting that conclusion. The gentleman making the declaration in the article I read was offering his gut sense as a former warrior still having ties to the military. I had to ponder that some. Frankly, I wondered who the 10 percent was who supported him. Too many of them are likely generals. Dangerous bobbing heads. Having spent some years of my life in the service and living through the Carter and Clinton administrations, I could certainly understand that gut reaction. But, how did it get that bad?

Deep military cuts. Refusing to mention the words Islam or terror. Declaring that we are not now nor have we ever been at war with Islam while failing to acknowledge that Islam is at war with us and the world and has been since the beginning of recorded history. Radical social engineering of the force. Rules of engagement costing many American lives. Trading hardened Islamic murderers for a deserter then in the face of Benghazi pledging to leave no American behind. Abandoning Iraq and forfeiting everything gained while discounting American lives lost. Comparing the murdering bastards that American fighting men and women will have to face again with white police officers in Ferguson, Missouri. Saluting United States Marines with a damn coffee cup in your hand!

Respect is earned. It is a two way street. You have to display some to get some. Who is that 10 percent again?

Then there is the fine United States Attorney General. Eric the race coward Holder. Fast and furious cover-up, IRS cover-up, refusing to prosecute the new Black Panthers in clear cut case of voter intimidation, suing states trying to enforce the law, challenging voter identification laws, failing to enforce laws that he and dear leader do not like. Refusal to title clear acts if Islamic terrorism calling them instead acts of workplace violence and in the same track wanting to disarm law abiding Americans. Using Eric’s logic, every Soldier lost in combat could be characterized as work place violence. Eric the race coward afraid to use the word Islam in the context of terror. Eric the race coward afraid to call a thug a thug because of the color of his skin. Eric needs to spend many years in prison. The Islamists inside probably will not need much effort to convert him into a jihadist.

Oh, and Secretary of State Hillary at this point what difference does it make Clinton. Future presidential candidate no doubt. The only difference is she is probably a better communist than the one we have now. We have a new Secretary, Genghis John Kerry. He is convinced that what we are doing now, bombing Iraq and Syria is not war. OK. Genghis John told us that Biblical scripture requires us to save the Islamic world from global warming. No, I am not making that up. If there is a government institution that deserves insertion of a gigantic enema….

I do not even want to talk about Harry Reid other than to press that he is a grand establishment partisan like some on the other side hope to be some day.

Speaking of the other side. They are busily following another Karl Rove pathway to victory. Hide in the dark, shut up, and let the other side beat itself. Their strategy for saving our country is to have no strategy. They will sit on their hands making puff ball pastel promises of grand things while the other side dismembers each one of them from now right up until Election Day. Win the Senate? Fat chance. Besides, to view things from Hillary’s perch, at this point what difference would it make who owns the Senate? Oh, they could have made a difference. But they probably lost the Senate in Mississippi when they bought Democrat votes to defeat the conservative candidate. Maybe they should switch on the television campaign ads and listen to the Democrats who are running against Obama. They are doing a pretty danged good job of it.

Just in case they might be listening though: Declare that a state of war exists between the Unites States of America and Islamic terrorism wherever it is found on this planet. Declare American Energy Independence. Declare that not one more American dollar will go to any other world entity for the purchase of oil. Declare that the American goal is to dominate the world oil market to lower prices and take money out of the hands of countries that have been financing Islamic terrorism. Declare that American borders will be secured and illegals sent back to their country of origin, more than welcome to try to come back through the front door, but America will determine who gets the visas. Declare that Obamacare will be repealed. Declare that the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Agency, and there are probably others, will go away.

But, if you sit in your corner and say nothing except that you are not a Democrat, you lose because I have nothing to gain by voting for you. So why would I bother.

I am going to go work on the bunker.

©2014 J. D. Pendry American Journal

Many people do not believe liberals are capable of fighting a war. To the contrary, I believe they are adept. The paradox is this. Most of us view war as action taken against our nation’s mortal enemies – the people desiring our destruction. Liberals view war the same way. In their view however, our nation’s mortal enemies are any who do not share their liberal-progressive-communist worldview. Generally it is conservative thinking Americans with whom they are now and have long been at war. Their energy is always, as they like to say, focused like a laser beam toward the end they have in mind. That end? Fundamental transformation if that is what you choose to call it, but it is better expressed as fundamental destruction of the United States of America we know. It is disconcerting to contemplate that people inside our republic have the same end in mind for it as those outside of it do. Liberals are at war, but it is with America.

People are simply who they are. They will always show their true colors. Liberals are patronizing when it comes to the active military and veterans. If it is campaign time, each will find a way to say something positive. But, when it comes right down to it they cannot help themselves. They will always let you know how they truly feel about the military often invoking their meme of supporting the troops, but not the war. I do not know how that conflict is going to work out for them in the near future.

Our Commander in Chief, as are many others in Washington and the media, is an Islam apologist who is always rooting for the moderate majority of the religion of peace. He has clearly shown his dislike for the military with his severe cuts and social engineering. There is no switch inside ones head that magically transforms him from that to a leader of warriors whose job it is to destroy those who threaten our country. We knew his intentions and feelings before he became our president yet we elected him anyway.

“First, I’ll stop spending nine billion a month in Iraq. I’m the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it. Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems. I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development of future combat systems. And I will institute an independent Defense Priorities Board to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.”

“We ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized and should never been waged, and on which we have now spent $400 billion, and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.” – Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama

To the detriment of national security, he has kept his promises. With his last election behind him, Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainians thank him for being more “flexible.”

Candidate Obama made his feelings apparent with his “lives wasted” comment and his promises to render America defenseless, but what was the troop supporting liberals saying during the war?

“Let me be clear. The violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American Soldiers to protect these tribes from Al-Qaida said to these tribes: We have to fight Al-Qaida ourselves.” – Senator Charles Schumer

“I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and — you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows — (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything…” – Senator Harry Reid

“If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans [Soldiers] had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings.” – Senator Dick Durbin

“There was no firefight, there was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops [Haditha Marines] overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. They actually went into the houses and killed women and children. ” – Representative John Murtha

“Shamefully we now learn that Saddam’s torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management.” – Senator Ted Kennedy

And there is no reason… that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs.” – Senator John Kerry

“You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” – Senator John Kerry

“I want to make it abundantly clear: if there’s anyone who believes that these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment. If a young fella has an option of having a decent career or joining the army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.” – Representative Charles Rangel

“The fact is if we are able to cut off the funding for the war, the president will not be able to conduct [win] the war.” – Senator Russ Feingold

“From New Orleans to Baghdad, this administration has made ‘planning’ a dirty word and an alien concept, and the damage to the United States has been immeasurable. Now with American lives on the line in Iraq, the least we can do is force them to draw up contingency plans to redeploy American troops in Iraq.” Senator John Kerry [discussing his and Presidential Candidate Clinton’s demand for briefings on redeployment plans]

He has to answer for his war. He has dug a hole so deep he can’t even see the light on this. It’s a tragedy. It’s a stark blunder. – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

First of all, [it is] the president’s war. He’s the one without a plan. – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

“The War on Terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It’s a bumper sticker, not a plan.” – Former Senator, Former Vice Presidential Candidate, Presidential Candidate John Edwards

JFK and LBJ owned Vietnam, yet over the years liberals have framed it as Nixon’s war. I tried to show the parallels between Iraq and Vietnam in Just Another Vietnam. We now learn, just as LBJ and McNamara did for Vietnam, the Whitehouse will be doing the targeting for the president’s air campaign. Although similar, this time there is a new twist. With elections in the wings and the 2016 presidency on the line, the liberals are trying to salvage something that says they are not dangerous on matters of national defense. They realize they cannot run on their “success” in Iraq and the greater Middle East.

There is no magic switch. This is how these people feel about the country and specifically about the military. Around the services, I do not believe there is a resounding chorus of hooahs about following these liberals into a war that did not have to be.

© 2014 J. D. Pendry American Journal

But for evil, evil has no allies. It has only relationships of convenience. Acquaintances having in mind the same end. Ally with evil or misunderstand evil’s intent and evil will kill you too.

Framing something in a religious context these days causes eyes to roll, I know. It causes some to stop reading, and from others yet a level of expressed hatred bordering on psychopathic. But, it is where we are. I am OK with all of that because I am blessed to live in a country where you can be what you want to be – live the life you choose to lead, speak your mind – in the present time at least. There is a reason for that. With clutching finger tips we manage precariously to hold on to the American Spirit – it is a spirit whose foundation is God-given freedom. It is the tie that binds. The fabric of America. A founding principle shared by no other nation on earth. I do not believe there is another rational explanation for a country such as ours. When it comes to America, a nation so blessed by God, maybe it is correct in this one instance to pronounce “you did not build that.” God driven American Spirit did.

I do not know what drives you – what is in your heart. You might be an atheist offended at any mention of God or the display of any Christian symbol. Arguably atheism is its own religion. If only some Christians could exhibit such strong faith. You may be a homosexual activist who believes your choice to be homosexual trumps the freedom of religious expression. You may worship at the altar of self. Not uncommon in establishment Washington or Hollywood. You may be a member of some other religion, real or made up, who is offended by one thing or another or who feels excluded from a Christian culture. If you truly believe what you advocate for, that is your center. It is what is in your heart. That is your religion. It is what drives you. What you are least willing to give up and most willing to fight for.

You are free to be the person you choose to be and to express your thoughts on any of those fronts. Why do you think that is? Christianity is why. People came to this land to escape state imposed religions. Our nation began under the precept of God-given freedom. Our founders did not set out to eradicate religion or throw up some impenetrable barrier to it, but instead to ensure government could not impose one on the people. It is Christian underpinning, our Judeo-Christian culture, which led to a secular representative republic that guarantees our right to pursue our interests and beliefs whatever they might be and most certainly our religion. In your zeal, be careful you do not forfeit freedom or help destroy what brought freedom to you.

In America, we have differing groups of people vying for power. They are not seeking freedom, equality or however you choose to label it. They desire dominance. They look to oppress any view contrary to theirs. Every other view must be subservient to theirs. To achieve what they desire means an end to America. It means the death of the American Spirit. When America is gone, and the American spirit is only a wistful memory, there will be darkness across this world. Just observe what is happening now. As America pulls back, evil gains momentum and many die.

This past week we were told that the Islamic State is not Islamic. Likely to come as a surprise to them. As the non-Islamic Islamic State murders its way across Iraq and Syria and looks to debut in a neighborhood near you, the American response has been feckless at best. Islam is the antithesis of the American spirit. It demands that everyone become subservient to their religion. It demands that their law, Sharia, rule nations. All nations. The Islamic State does allow you the freedom to choose. You can choose their way, or death. A sad conclusion is that this absolute evil has the same end in mind as do some groups of people inside of America. They want the end of Christianity and removal of America’s Judeo-Christian influence, from America and from the world. They desire the death of the American Spirit.

The war we are in is timeless. It started at the beginning of time with Isaac and Ishmael. The evidence of that, Biblically and historically, is overwhelming. It continues this day and will continue until the end of time. The Islamic State has but one goal. The destruction of Israel, the Jews, and the Biblical extension of Israel – Christianity.

To accomplish their aim, they must kill the American Spirit. I have faith it will not happen on either front. The One I trust has a covenant with me. Jeremiah 33: 31-38.

From outside and inside America, the tactics may be different, but the goal is the same. The end of Israel and the end of America. If you share a goal with evil, know that evil has no allies. It will use you to achieve it aims then kill you too.

© 2014 J. D. Pendry American Journal