Defending Christmas

A column I wrote last Christmas but whose main points are relavent every year. Plus it is a great story of how one person can make a change and a difference in the continual war against the Left's version of Multiculturalism, Tolerance, Diversity and Political Correctness.

“All the Whos down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not. – Dr. Seuss

It is the Christmas season and once again Christmas itself is the target of a secular and atheistic jihad. If you didn’t know better you might think that the word ‘Christmas’ was the dirtiest of dirty words and one not worthy of being uttered in public.

This year Target continues the ban on the famous Salvation Army bell ringers with their red kettles from their property again this year while the ACLU threatened to sue a Colorado school district over such carols as ‘Jingle Bells’. Celebration of the ‘holidays’ abound but to actually spot the word ‘Christmas’ is rare and far between. Both Corporate America and government institutions have abandoned the spiritual, cultural and traditional celebrations of Christmas.

Instead, the Winter Holiday PC police prowl the nation threatening public schools who might dare to have red and green napkins at their annual ‘holiday party’ during the ‘Winter Break’. Anything that might remotely trigger the word ‘Christmas’ or conjure up images of a baby in a manger has become a target ripe for extermination. No longer are we treated to ‘Merry Christmas’ at retailers but are forced to settle for a fuzzy ‘happy holidays’ as we rush to pick up our ‘holiday tree’ at the local haven of mass consumption. Of course it would appear that the fact that the word ‘holiday’ is a shortened version of ‘holy day’ has escaped those seeking to purify the public spaces from the evils of Christianity. Just wait until they figure out that the fat, jolly man in the red suit is loosely associated with a 4th century bishop and saint. What a mess that will turn out to be.

My business banks with Wells Fargo so I visit the local branch on a daily basis. They have a very generic signs about the holidays in 'non-Christmas colors' and then a big sign talking about Wells Fargo's commitment to the seven principles of Kwanzaa. There are no references to Christmas whatsoever and the usual salute to the relatively minor Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is noticeably absent. When I spoke with one of the tellers and mentioned I was researching an upcoming column on Christmas she proudly pointed out the newly erected Christmas tree as their commitment to Christmas. It was slowly and patiently explained to me that Kwanzaa is a ‘cultural’ holiday and not a religious one so it’s ‘ok’ for them to refer to it by name. She then proceeded to tell me about a number of complaints they had received in regards to their primary focus on Kwanzaa.

Apparently I am not the only one who remembers the reason for the season. You’ve got to hand it to those public relations experts at Well’s Fargo. What a bunch of spineless, politically correct dolts. I wonder if they are aware that the founder of Kwanzaa rejected Christmas and believed that blacks shouldn't celebrate a "white man's holiday"? I, for one, proudly salute Well’s Fargo Bank for performing exhaustive research in preparation for the ‘Christmas controversy’.

It does appear that the efforts of those attempting to preserve the idea and holiday of Christmas are starting to pay off. Lowes has finally agreed that there is truly no such thing as a “holiday tree” and are once again offering Christmas trees and Walgreen’s has pledged that next year “things will be different” and their confused ‘holiday trees’ will once again be offered as Christmas trees as well. Kroger has issued a letter stating that it uses a variety of greetings and advertising materials during December including Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Season's Greetings, and Happy Holidays but "We have not and do not intend to ban any of these greetings, including Merry Christmas”. Wal-Mart, under pressure of a threatened boycott from various Christian groups, no longer requires its employees to wish you ‘Happy Holidays’.

Maybe if our luck holds we might actually be able to purchase a ‘Christmas card’ to give away at Christmas. I’m saving all my ‘holiday cards’ for Earth Day or Ramadan. I think it will make them a bit more extra special next year.

Some may say that at best there have been only small, paltry victories in regards to Christmas but it only reflects the spiteful vision and hateful pettiness of those who tirelessly toil to remove every vestige of Christianity, and religion in general, from the sight and sound of the average citizen. The concept that in this great country we have the freedom of religion, not the freedom from religion, seems to elude them.

So a few small, but courageous, steps can be exercised by you to help fight off the stifling cultural tyranny who so desperately seek to drive Christ from Christmas. First and foremost, don’t shop at those retailers who obviously are avoiding using the word ‘Christmas’ in their displays, advertising or greetings. Cheerfully greet your customers and clients with ‘Merry Christmas’ and respond with a warm ‘Merry Christmas’ to anyone wishing you ‘Happy Holidays’.

The American Family Association is leading the charge to preserve Christmas by targeting retailers who avoid the word Christmas with boycotts and encouraging consumers to take their shopping, and their dollars, to companies who are willing to admit what holiday we are really celebrating on December 25th. You can join the nearly 650,000 Americans who have signed their Petition To Stop The Ban On The Use of “Christmas” By Major Retailers at https://secure.afa.net/afa/afapetition/signpetition.asp?id=1480.

You can also join the nationwide effort to send the ACLU, the ultimate group of ghoulish grinches, 100,000 Christmas cards wishing them a Merry Christmas.

Here’s the information you’ll need:

ACLU
"Wishing You Merry Christmas"
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004

You can learn more about this effort at http://muscleheadrevolution.com.

Above all else, speak out against the ‘tyranny of hypersensitivity’ that seeks to strip Christianity from the traditions and history of this country.

As I returned to my local Wells Fargo bank the following day the Kwanza sign had been removed and I asked again if there had been some complaints. At this the teller stated that they were tired of the complaints and then she rather icily informed me that mine “had been the last straw”. Apparently Wells Fargo had not appreciated my informal research into the acceptance of Kwanza by the general public. So chalk one up for Christmas, by standing up for principle the good guys might just win one once in a while.

Here's some interesting links about Kwanzaa....

The Rotten Roots of Kwanzaa

The Truth About Kwanzaa

Karenga told the Washington Post the following about Kwanzaa:


"People think it's African, but it's not. I came up with Kwanzaa because black people in this country wouldn't celebrate it if they knew it was American. Also, I put it around Christmas because I knew that's when a lot of bloods would be partying."

Ronald Reagan on the meaning of Christmas

"My fellow Americans, thank you for joining Nancy and me on this festive evening. The menorah stands lighted in Lafayette Park, for this is also the time of Hanukkah, and this season is rich in the meaning of our Judeo-Christian tradition. In a moment we'll be lighting the National Christmas Tree, carrying forward what is now a 62-year tradition first begun by Calvin Coolidge.

Tonight we're drawn in warmth to one another as we reflect upon the deeply holy meaning of the miracle we shall soon celebrate. We know that Mary and Joseph reached the stable in Bethlehem sometime after sunset. We do not know the exact moment the Christ Child was born, only what we would have seen if we'd been standing there as we stand here now: Suddenly, a star from heaven shining in our eyes, shining with brilliant beauty across the skies, a star pointing toward eternity in the night, like a great ring of pure and endless light, and then all was calm, and all was bright. Such was the beginning of one solitary life that would shake the world as never before or since. When we speak of Jesus and of His life, we speak of a man revered as a prophet and teacher by people of all religions, and Christians speak of someone greater -- a man who was and is divine. He brought forth a power that is infinite and a promise that is eternal, a power greater than all mankind's military might, for His power is Godly love, love that can lift our hearts and soothe our sorrows and heal our wounds and drive away our fears. He promised there will never be a long night that does not end. He promised to deliver us from dark torment and tragedy into the warming sunlight of human happiness, and beyond that, into paradise. He's never been a halfway giver; His generosity is pure and perfect and sure.

This, then, expresses the true meaning of Christmas. If each of us could give but a fraction to one another of what He gave to the whole human family, how many hearts could heal, how much sorrow and pain could be driven away? There's still time for joy and gladness to touch a sad and lonely soul, still time to feed a hungry child, to wrap a present for a kind old man feeling forlorn and afraid, and to reach out to an abandoned mother raising children on her own. There's still time to remember our Armed Forces, to express our profound gratitude to those keeping watch on faraway frontiers of freedom, and to redouble our energies to account for our MIA's. They are not and never will be forgotten. And there's still time to remember the deepest truth of all: that there can be no prisons, no walls, no boundaries separating the members of God's family.

Let us reach out tonight to every person who is persecuted; let us embrace and comfort, support and love them. Let us come together as one family under the fatherhood of God, binding ourselves in a communion of hearts, for tonight and tomorrow and for all time. May we give thanks for an America abundantly blessed, for a nation united, free, and at peace. May we carry forward the happiness of the Christmas spirit as the guiding star of our endeavors 365 days a year. And as we light this magnificent tree, may all the youthful hope and joy of America light up the heavens and make the angels sing.

Merry Christmas, and God bless you all. And now we're going to light the tree."

-Former President Reagan's Remarks on Lighting the National Christmas Tree - December 12, 1985

It's Been Fun!

The Faithful Few has ceased publication due to the pressures of family, friends, jobs and life in general. We hope you enjoyed your visit and perhaps The Faithful Few will resurrect itself in a different form in the future.

The nasty Markos "Kos" Moulitsas Zúniga

So Daily Kos has sounded the trumpet for men to stream into their local recruiting offices? It is just like when Charlie Rangle called for the draft. Kos and Rangle (and one suspects Downer) don’t want to help the war effort, they want to injure it, so their calls are transparent. Despite the recruiting challenges, the Iraq effort has all the soldiers Sec. Rumsfeld wants it to, and that will not be affected if I and a million others sign up tomorrow.

But Kos doesn’t care about the Iraq effort, except insofar as he desperately wants it to fail. He repeatedly calls it Bush’s folly, as if it were a harebrained scheme cooked up one night rather than the considered opinion of over a decade of thought and thousands of bright minds. Such profound strategic decisions are always lost on the simpletons of the era; and history, when it remembers them at all, does so with a laugh.

When the war began with astounding success, the Left disappeared. I remember being online in the days surrounding the fall of Baghdad, trying to find what the leftist press and bloggers were saying. They were silent. Then as the insurgents began to slowly emerge, so too did these leftists. And by the time the insurgency had really begun to boil, the left had found its song again, and was as chipper as ever.

Let me say this: Everyone from Michael Moore to Kos and a thousand others like them begin by announcing that they are deeply offended by the suggestion that they are un-American and should never have their patriotism called into question. I will not call them un-American, they are anti-American. And I am not merely questioning their patriotism, I am declaring them to be traitors who want America to lose.

This is why they deny facts, take an anti-humanitarian view of the war, and have to keep insisting that Iraq is a failure even as the facts close in around them. Zarqawi and bin Laden know that Iraqi democracy is a body blow to Islamic fundamentalism, but Kos and his ilk haven’t the knowledge base or intellect to have determined as much. Iranian mulluahs and Syrian ba’athists know that a democratic Iraq will begin the ticking of the bomb underneath their own regimes, but Kos and his ilk haven’t caught on yet. Planners from the Pentagon and the British Foreign Office understood that Saddam harbored and gave succor to terrorist leaders and movements, but Kos and his ilk refuse to accept facts. 80% of Iraqis are happy they were saved by Americans and consider themselves to have been “liberated,” but Kos and his ilk don’t care about Iraqis. And the entire world is waking up to the fact that “George Bush May Have Been Right,” to paraphrase any of dozens of newspaper headlines from around the world, all except Kos and his ilk, who are so emotionally and professionally invested in American failure that they hold out fading hope that in spite of recent American successes, today might be the day it all falls apart.

It wouldn’t be so bad if Kos were just a dimwit who didn’t know any better, like the redneck at the bar who doesn’t even draw a response, because you know he’s not worth it. But Markos Moulitsas Zúniga -- Kos – is a much darker figure than that. His website is a clearinghouse for the hateful left, and a cheering section for the insurgency. After the Sunnis in Fallujah massacred four American contractors, Kos wrote this:

That said, I feel nothing over the death of merceneries. They aren’t in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.

When a firestorm ensued, he tried to delete the quote and pathetically directed those who tried to link to it to some totally unrelated page. But screen shots endure, and he had nowhere to hide. His defenders will say that he apologized, which is manifestly false. He offered a qualified response saying that, “My language was harsh,” and then reiterating his contempt for the deceased. I’ve seen him interviewed since then, and when asked about the comments he smirked and again repeated his polished, non-denial denials.

For those who don’t know, here are the facts: The four men murdered were all retired US military veterans. They were delivering food to Iraqis when they were murdered. They weren’t waging war for profit, but were invited by the US military after the invasion to help the military and the Iraqi people.

From Army officer Jason Van Steenwyk,

“I should say that I had the privilege to meet many civilian contractors and security professionals from all over the world. Most of them were there supplementing coalition forces security, or providing needed logistical or security services to US troops and to the Iraqi people.

”Most of the American contractors I talked to had served 20 years on active duty with the US military in one capacity or another.

”Unlike my troops, these guys could have left at any time, just by saying "I quit" and catching a ride to Baghdad or Kuwait. Instead, despite the risks, they chose to stay.

”They are, in every sense, our partners. And their families, I'm sure, loved them and missed them and feared for their safety just as fervently as ours.

”Anyone who tries to force a moral distinction between our soldiers and these civilians who served alongside us--who dismisses them as "mercenaries" in it for the "pecuniary interests alone," and anyone who buys into that idea, is merely displaying a frightening degree of ignorance.”

---

Incidentally, a “mercenary” kills for hire, these guys fed people for hire. And a “war profiteer” profits from the bad guys!! American WWII war profiteers sold arms to the Nazis, they weren’t helping the American military! Frightening degree of ignorance is correct.

Scott Helvenston, 38, was a former member of the US Navy SEALs who joined at the age of 17 and served until 1994. He then became a fitness instructor and actor, appearing in such films as GI Jane and Face/Off. He was the father of two sons, one 15, the other 13. His brother had this to say about Helvenston:“He's a hero. He died supplying food to people who needed it.”

---

Jerry Zovko, 32, was a veteran of the US Army and a mechanic. He joined the army in 1991 at the age of 19 and served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. His mother, Donna Zovko, had this to say about him:

”Jerry was a man with a principle, an idea. He loved people. He wanted the world to be without borders, for everybody to be free and safe. He went there to make it a better place. He was trying to stop something like this from happening to someone else.”

---

Mike Teague, 38, was a member of the US Army, earning a Bronze Star in Afghanistan. He also served in Panama and Grenada. From his wife, Rhonda:

”Mike was a proud father, soldier, and American. I, his son Brandon, and his friends and family will miss him without measure.”

---

Wesley Batalona, 48, was a former Army Ranger. A native Hawaiian, he joined the Army in 1974. He leaves behind a wife, June, and a daughter, Krystal. Said a friend of him and his family:

”He was a hero to us.”

---

That said, I feel nothing over the death of merceneries. They aren’t in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.

So today, Kos has offered his advice to the US military and his thoughts on our patriotism. Andre cut off the end of Kos’ quote:

The cowards in the 101st Fighting Keyboardists are the polar opposite [of the true definition of patriotism]. They lay shame to our nation.

You like that? We lay shame to his nation?!?! Kos points out that he was in the Army, he did a single stint for 4 years. Big deal. History is full of wicked traitors who have a military uniform hanging in their closet. But maybe I should cut Kos some slack. “Victories” like the one in Fallujah that got him so excited are increasingly rare these days, so little “wins” like today’s news that the Army and Marines are below recruiting capacity are all he has to look forward to.

Election Of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Sends Shockwaves Through The Left

Well, there you have it folks. Pope Benedict XVI. As a non Catholic it has been very interesting to watch this process, ceremony and tradition unfold. The world's oldest continuous elected office and probably among the top three most powerful men in the world. Not to mention the first German pope in a thousand years.

"Minutemen's" quiet vigil

The borders are completely out of control and the Minutemen are forcing this nation to deal with an issue that is of vital importance. They have accomplished their mission and hopefully their numbers and influence will continue to grow if the US government won't do their job.

But as much as an exercise in do-it-yourself border security, the event has become a rallying point for a national anti-immigrant movement that is gaining steam after years on the political margins.

The event has drawn participants from all over the country, each carrying stories of communities transformed as the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has climbed to more than 9 million, the great majority impoverished Spanish speakers.

North manual says U.S. aims at leaders

After reviewing the document, North Korea experts in the South said it hinted that leaders in Pyongyang were fearful. "North Korean power elites' shock and frustration after seeing the fall of Saddam are so evident in many passages of the document," said Jeung Young-tai, a senior research fellow with the state-run think tank, Korea Institute for National Unification. "On the surface, it stressed the importance of loyalty to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, but beneath you can smell the leadership's fear of losing internal allegiances."

Border vigil rescues emaciated alien

The unidentified man was described as dehydrated and emaciated. He was turned over by volunteers to U.S. Border Patrol officials and later was returned to Mexico.

It was one of two weekend encounters by Minuteman volunteers with illegal aliens, neither of which resulted in the violent confrontation predicted by some civil liberties and human rights organizations.

In a separate incident, the volunteers spotted 18 illegal aliens entering the United States here and called the Border Patrol, which responded in minutes and took the aliens into custody.

Nazi professor fired for "absenteeism"

A New Jersey man who has a program called "White Viewpoint" and is an admitted neo-Nazi was fired from his job as a university professor this week. Except that Fairleigh Dickinson University only had the courage to fire him for alleged absenteeism. Prof. Jacques Pluss, who taught Western Civ., has his radio program advertised on a website with the slogan "White revolution, the only solution." The introduction to the show says "Professor Pluss explains how Jews and Israel control our foreign policy." I can't wait.

When he was fired, Pluss was defiant: FDU, he said, "has traditionally been a heavily Judaized institution." He then attacked basketball players attending the school on athletic scholarships, calling them niggers.

That a respected university had to create a false reason for this clown's dismissal is evidence of how dangerous the Ward Churchill precedent could become. When University of Colorado Chancellor Phil DeStefano said that Churchill's words -- even those that advocated violence -- were not sufficient grounds to fire him, he implicitly said that no words could be used to dismiss a professor. This is an Alice-in-Wonderland surreal world where university professors at institutions of higher learning are not only the most concentrated focus of irrationality and hate, but where the civilized world bizarrely declares that it is powerless to stop the madness.

Ward Churchill and Jacques Pluss both should have been fired, and they both should have been fired solely because their views and communications are so poisonous and so violent that they evidence an impoverished mental aptitude and demonstrate noxious views completely outside the scope of reasonable discourse.

And a society that lacks the self-confidence to declare as much unduly weakens itself voluntarily. It is time for the academy and those who support her to stand up and declare that there are standards and those standards will be kept.

Cracks in the Iranian facade?

Earlier I wrote that the Bush administration appeared to have settled on a strategy of fomenting revolution in Iran. The events in the former Soviet Republics show what the CIA is capable of doing to stir an uprising. And the cryptic events of the last few weeks in Iran make me think that CIA and MI6 agents are active there as well.

First, there was that mysterious explosion a few weeks ago. Then there was the defector-doctor who revealed the Canadian journalist murdered by the regime last in 1993 was in fact tortured and raped first.

Now it appears that the people Bush clearly told to rise up, my be slowly doing just that.

The Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran, which is in regular contact with its own network of sources inside the country, says that the demonstrations have spread to other cities, and that government militiamen were seen using clubs, knives and chains against demonstrators. Moreover, elsewhere in Iran several women protesters were beaten to death for taking off their veils, and others were to be lashed for "un-Islamic behavior."

Minutemen head out for border detail

With a little luck this will really catch on. I'd love to see ten times the number out there next year. A few brave Americans every quarter mile for a hundred miles. Need a vacation? Head for the border....

14 Reported Dead in Saudi Terror Standoff

They call that 'a good start'.

The size and ferocity of the battle in Rass, 220 miles northwest of Riyadh, suggested the security forces had uncovered a major cell of the al Qaeda-linked militant networks that the kingdom has battled in a crackdown launched in 2003 following a string of deadly suicide bombings.

Gang will target Minuteman vigil on Mexico border

This gets more interesting the more I research it. It also shows how brazen the drug and smuggler gangs are in the area. This is our country, not theirs, and if it takes some confrontation on the border to finally get the American people and their elected officials galvanized, then so be it. I'm happy to see that the ACLU is on the side of MS-13.

The MS-13 gang has established major smuggling operations in several areas along the U.S.-Mexico border and have transported hundreds of Central and South Americans -- including gang members -- into the United States in the past two years. The gang also is involved in drug and weapons smuggling.

I asked my wife if I could take a little vacation down to Arizona next year. The verdict is still out on that request. I'd love to write and blog for a week or so and participate in this fascinating grass roots effort. I wonder if my concealed handgun permit is valid in Arizona?

Funeral masks scramble for successor

However, all sources in Vatican City this weekend said it was not an over-simplification to say that the succession was a spiritual and doctrinal battle between the old church, as represented by Italy, and the new church, as represented by the worldwide Third World congregation.

John Paul II's own election, as has been noted many times, is still referred to in high Italian Catholic circles as the Polish experiment. He was the first non-Italian pope since 1523, and the first Slavic pope.

Now the Italian church seems determined to regain its old position of authority. But John Paul II himself has made that a difficult proposition in the way he has created the college of cardinals who will elect his successor.

Advisor: Reagan Threatened War Over Poland

A fascinating read, and one that shows that Reagan and the Pope had the iron will to bring down the iron curtain. This article only tells part of the story that also included Thatcher and clandestine actions and wars throughout the world that finally brought down the Soviet empire. This article The Holy Alliance from Time, 1992, reveals some more of the details behind the U.S.-Vatican relationship.

In the end, however, the Russians backed down. Soviet domination of Poland and Eastern Europe ended, along with the Soviet Union itself, without a shot being fired, thanks to that alliance that was formed in June 1982 between two men who understood the evil nature of communism and knew how to bring it down.

It was a pact that once put the U.S. on the brink of a war with the Soviet Union.

It began on June 7, 1982 at a private Vatican meeting between President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. The two men were alone for 50 minutes and the subject of their discussion was Poland and the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.

Writing in "The Holy Alliance, Ronald Reagan and John Paul II," one of the Pope's biographers, Carl Bernstein, described what happened: "Reagan and the Pope agreed to undertake a clandestine campaign to hasten the dissolution of the communist empire … Richard Allen, Reagan's first National Security advisor [was quoted as declaring] ‘This was one of the great secret alliances of all time.' "

Judge William P. Clark, Reagan's national security adviser, said that the alliance between the two men emanated from a shared common view on the nature of the Evil Empire.

"The pope and the president shared the view that each had been given a spiritual mission – a special role in the divine plan of life," Clark told NewsMax. "The two men shared the belief that atheistic Communism lived a lie that, when fully understood, must ultimately fail."

Citizens take posts on the border; 118 illegals caught, officials say

"Undocumented Border Patrol Agent". You've got to love it. I have to say I'm proud of this 'glorified' neighborhood watch. It's amazing the amount of 'controversey' stirrup up by a few citizens of this country daring to report law breakers to the proper US government law enforcement agency. What's next, Americans turning in drug dealers or reporting car thieves? Ah, the horror! And in a totally unrelated story
Border States Grapple With Alien Criminals. The actual numbers nabbed doesn't really matter but the publicity and point being made here is invaluable. And who knows how many hundreds or even thousands of illegals have been delayed or 'inconvenienced' along this stretch of inadequately protected border.

Simcox said project volunteers had assisted in the apprehension of 118 illegal immigrants. Fourteen were picked up by the Border Patrol near the Huachuca Mountains, 18 at Hereford and the rest in the Naco area.

Andy Adame, public information officer for the Border Patrol, confirmed that 118 apprehensions resulted from 54 calls received since Thursday.

UPDATE: Border patrol nets 18 early arrests

Border volunteers descend on tourist town

Sounds like fun. Too bad I couldn't make it. We'll be following this story as it unfolds.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., received a standing ovation as he dismissed criticism from those who have called the Minutemen racists and xenophobes. He took direct aim at President Bush's recent description of the group as "vigilantes." Mexican President Vicente Fox, who was meeting with Bush at the time last week, used the term cazamigrantes – immigrant hunters.

"We are saying to our government, 'Please enforce the law,' " Tancredo said. "That is not a radical idea. That is not a vigilante idea. It is an American concept: the rule of law." Television commentator Angela "Bay" Buchanan praised the Minutemen for sending a message that "we're not going to sit by and let America slip away" in a tide of illegal immigration.

Pope John Paul II Dies at 84

The Execution of Terri Schiavo

"The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak. In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in the favor of life."

"I urge all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others.”

– President George Bush

The crime is complete, the deed is done, and the long battle is over. Terri Schiavo is dead.

Terri’s so-called wishes if she was ever dramatically injured only surfaced some seven years into her condition and after a malpractice suit had been settled. This endless mantra that death by dehydration was ‘merely carrying out Terri’s wishes’ rings hollow when one looks at the evidence and once again common sense and rationality was the first casualty of the legal system.

In February 1990, a sudden loss of oxygen to the brain left Theresa Marie Schiavo in a coma and eventually in a profoundly incapacitated state. Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, took care of her, working alongside Terri's parents. He took her to numerous doctors; he pursued experimental treatments; he sought at least some modest restoration of her self-awareness. In November 1992, he testified at a malpractice hearing that he would care for Terri for the rest of her life, that he "wouldn't trade her for the world," that he was going to nursing school to become a better caregiver. He explicitly reaffirmed his marriage vow, "through sickness, in health."

When one doctor suggested that he remove Terri’s feeding tube he replied that “I couldn't do that to Terri," and let her die of dehydration. Yet by 1993 such sentiments increasingly fell by the wayside as Michael’s interests focused elsewhere. He was moving on and his brain damaged wife was becoming a mere problem and inconvenient tie to the past.

If my wife was in such a state I would allow physical therapy. I would want her to go outside in the sunshine and to receive friends and flowers. I would want her to have her teeth cleaned and life threatening infections treated. I would allow ‘pet therapy’ and for the blinds to be opened in her room. Even if she had told me she wanted no exceptional medical measures taken, I would make sure her existence while she was still alive was as pleasant and comfortable as possible. Common sense and natural compassion call for such simple measures yet these were the things that Michael denied Terri for many years.

Are these the actions of a man who deeply loved his wife and unselfishly wanted only to fulfill her wishes? No one would wish for themselves and their family to be treated that way. These are the actions of a man who I wouldn’t trust to water the houseplants over the weekend or feed the family pet, let alone make the ultimate decision whether I lived or died.

If any of us had treated a dog, cat or even an iguana the way Terri has been treated we would have been arrested and prosecuted by the same system that provided the legal cover and protection for Michael to deprive, mistreat, and eventually kill his wife. Terri was not a piece of unwelcome human debris to be hidden away in a darkened room barred from even the light of day or killed so that another could marry the mother of his children and move on with his life.

Regarding Terri’s care, Michael Schiavo once said:
"How the hell should I know we never spoke about this, my God I was only 25 years old. How the hell should I know? We were young. We never spoke of this." – (Michael Schiavo’s former girl friend Cindy Shook in a May 8, 2001 Deposition.)

Some have argued that it is not about the right to die, that it is about the right to kill. Perhaps just a small matter of semantics, but more likely a significant difference in how one views the sanctity of human life. There is a distinct line between letting someone go and wanting to see them go and the cheerleading for the death of this brave woman with the tremendous will to live has finally been overcome by those with the tremendous will to see her die. She talked (a few words), she felt pain, she responded to commands, she laughed, she cried, and she brought joy to those around her.

Because of a court order Terri died at the command of the husband she feared and was preparing to leave. It’s sad to see a struggle in our culture and our society between those who seek a culture of life and those who vigorously champion the acceptance and advocacy of a culture of death. The secularists and the Christians. The Right to Life versus the Duty to Die. The representative branch versus the judicial branch. A society torn apart on such basic fundamental rights as human dignity, the sacredness of human life and the worthiness of those ‘less perfect’ than the rest of us.

Is she just the latest sacrifice on the blood splattered altar of convenience or a woman finally being granted her ultimate wish? Unfortunately, we will never know in this lifetime what she truly wanted and whether she wanted to leave her family who loved her and fought for her dignity, care, and finally her life. The love and devotion of such a family is a rare treasure to be cherished. She will be missed by those who loved and cared for her and her courage, and the courage of those who fought for her life, will be an inspiration for many others.

Thursday morning, as Terri was in her final hours of life, police prohibited any blood relatives from spending time with her. O'Donnell, one of the family's spiritual advisers, said that her parents and siblings were "begging to be at her bedside” but they were denied. In one final act of cruelty at the end, Terri’s parents were not allowed to be with their daughter as she died.

Terri was cremated against her family’s wishes, and her remains will be tucked away in her husband’s family crypt far removed from the ever faithful family who fought for her until the bitter end. The cruelty exhibited by Michael Schiavo to Terri’s parents continued to the very end and now even beyond her death. Though we will never know Terri’s true wishes as to whether she would have wanted to die this way, we do know for certain that Terri would have never wanted Michael to be so mean and cruel to her parents, and make them suffer like this.

The nationwide debate has not ended with Terri’s passing but has just begun. Political blood will be shed and with both barrels blasting the various sides will begin the long battle over whether we are a culture of life or a culture of expediency with a duty to die once we are not productive. Fascist regimes glorify the killing of the weak, the disabled, the helpless and ‘useless’ eaters that exist among us, not a civilized Western society with a heart of compassion.

Though technically not killed by the state, it was the state that allowed her to be killed by another. It was the state that failed to protect a helpless woman from a man who has shown his cruel and uncaring character time and time again. It was Terri, and those who need our protection and care the most, that was failed by the state and its cold laws that were not tempered by mercy. Michael Schiavo failed her, the courts failed her, our laws failed her, and ultimately we as a society failed her, for we allowed our culture to become one that would allow this to happen. "Dasein Ohne Leben", the Nazi idea of "Existence without life", must not be enshrined in law as an excuse for euthanasia.

Though I believe she was welcomed with open arms into the presence of the Lord, my family and I grieve her passing and empathize with the pain her parents are experiencing at the loss of their firstborn daughter. Death of a loved one is never easy, but we, and they, do not mourn as those who have no hope. God Bless you Terri, you will be missed and remembered.

........"Mrs. Schiavo's death is a moral poverty and a legal tragedy. This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today. Today we grieve, we pray, and we hope to God this fate never befalls another. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schindlers and with Terri Schiavo's friends in this time of deep sorrow." – Congressman Tom DeLay.

Smoke Signals: Electing a New Pope

Rite, Ritual, and Tradition

"When the Pope dies, the officials that were part of the papal administration no longer rule. The governing of the Vatican is taken over by the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, or Chamberlain of the church. The camerlengo supervises all aspects of what goes on from the the death of the pope to the election of the next pope. His responsibilities include the papal funeral and preparations for the conclave.

The camerlengo's first duty is to perform a medieval ritual. At the deathbed of the pope the camerlengo takes a silver hammer and lightly taps on the pope's forehead three times, calling him by his Christian name. When there is no reply, he announces to those present that the pope is dead. The camerlengo also removes the Fisherman's Ring from the Pope's finger. At the first meeting of the Sacred College the ring and papal seals are broken."

Mexican Military on Standby in Response to Minutemen

It's nice to see a foreign power attempting to dictate US border policy and willing to back up their flood of illegals with military power. May the Minutemen swell in numbers until this border invasion is dealt with swiftly, effectively, and overwhelmingly. If the government is not willing to protect its borders, enforce it's laws and protect its citizens, then that task, unfortunately, falls into the hands of the ordinary citizen. Enough it enough. And God help Mexico if one US citizen is killed by the military muscle of Vincent Fox.

Pope Close to Death, Receives Communion -Vatican

This may be it for a good man who is a giant on the world stage and was a strategic partner with Reagan and Thatcher in helping to bring down the vile system of Communism. He played a key role in the liberation of millions from the harsh burden of the iron curtain. I hate to write his obituary yet, but it seems that it may be necessary soon. I am not a Catholic, but I admire the man and his convictions, beliefs and commitment to principle.

It's a good thing the pope doesn't have an embittered, estranged spouse to pull his feeding tube.