Not a lot going on lately that I've felt worthy of my attention, but I thought I'd check in and let folks know I'm still here. I've got the week off--vacation time. I get two weeks a year, and I'll probably take another in April or May. I'm not going anywhere, but maybe I can get some writing done. That can be kind of tedious, too, so I may just sleep all week.
**********
The only two things I've seen in the news this past week are Egypt and the House Republicans talking budget cuts. The "tea party" Republicans elected this past fall pledged $100 billion in cuts; the House Republican leadership is balking at that (no surprise). The Democrats, of course, are throwing a fit--can't buy votes by cutting the budget. They'll probably be some insignificant cuts, but nothing near $100 billion, which isn't much, but it would be a start. $3 trillion is closer to what they need to slice.
**********
I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the Egypt thing; that country has been around, in some shape, form, or fashion, for 5,000 years now. It's one of the three oldest civilizations in human history (anybody know the other two? They'll all go back to about the same time.) The length of Egypt's existence is one of the reasons why I don't get terribly disturbed or excited about what happens around the world. I'm not sure if this current coup is good for that country or not; at least Mubarak gave the country peace and stability. Everybody thought it was a wonderful thing when the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979, and they ended up with the Ayatollah Khomeini and everything they've had since. (That happens in the United States, too. An awful lot of people couldn't wait to see George Bush go, and look what the country is plagued with now.) We'll see what Egypt comes up with. Whatever it is, it will change again some time in the future. That is, if the Lord doesn't come back first and end it all.
**********
The Conservative Political Action Committee has had a get-together lately and they held a straw poll for their choice for President. Ron Paul won with 30% of the vote; Mitt Romney received 23%. Nobody else, including Sarah Palin, got more than 6%. Paul is still my first choice, but he hasn't got a chance of being elected President. Donald Trump spoke to the gathering a few nights ago, and tossed out the possibility of a run for President next year. He was very well received, and probably would make a pretty good President. Unlike the current administration, he's had a lot of experience running things, and he's had no government experience (that I know of), and that speaks highly of him, too. Ideology cannot effectively direct a government (or anything else for that matter), and that's Obama's main problem. He came into power with nothing more than a far-left, quasi-socialist ideology. That's never worked anywhere, as the Soviet Union discovered and Europe is beginning to realize as well. Conservatism does work, because it's based on what has actually happened in history and proven to be successful. And part of that success is a respect and obedience to moral law, and THAT, dear reader, is what liberals truly cannot stand. As much as anything, that is the motivation behind much of modern liberalism--abortion, homosexuality, free sex, victimization--in other words, anything that Christianity opposes. "For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (John 3:20). As true today as it was when Jesus spoke those words nearly 2,000 years ago. Do not underestimate the hatred the left has for God and Christianity and how much that influences their actions today. It is the main reason they oppose Sarah Palin so strongly. She's been an experienced state executive, far more qualified than Barack Obama, but, to the left, she isn't "qualified" for one reaon--what she believes. And they will continue to hammer her--into oblivion, if they can. Watch who the left attacks the most vociferously; that's who they fear the most. And as long as they continue to control CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC, along with the Washington Post and New York Times, they have powerful voices to persuade the simple-minded.