Visiting Washington D.C. after 20 years

The last time I visited Washington was shortly after Bill Clinton's inauguration in January 1993 as an attendee to the annual convention of representatives of the NFIB  (National Federation of Independent Business).  A partner and I had just started a new magazine for the NFIB, a powerful lobbying voice for small businesses of mostly 20 and fewer employees.  We called the magazine "Independent Business", later shortened to "IB" Magazine.     Larger small businesses and large corporation are represented by the US Chamber of Commerce which has far fewer members than the NFIB's 600,000, but more political clout generally speaking.  One of the meet and greet sessions on that visit was with the newly minted President Clinton, who did his usual sweet talking routine trying to convince this generally hostile group that, although a democrat,  he was not anti business.  A tough sell since this group is probably somewhat right of the NRA in its political proclivities.  Another more congenial visit was with Newt Gingrich, destined to become Speaker of the House and a great stumbling block to Clinton's left wing agenda of the first two years of his administration.

Bearing in mind this meeting was two years before Gingrich's ascendency to Speaker, he was very clear about his agenda to roll back the tide of big government at the federal level.  He went so far as to suggest there was no compromising with the democrats because almost all of them were socialists.  To the extent the federal budget was balanced for six years of the Clinton administration, that welfare programs were reformed and that Hillary care was resoundingly defeated, much of the credit goes to Gingrich and his "Contract with America", as the Republican reform program came to be called. Gingrich was a transformational figure during the Clinton years, forcing the Clinton presidency to move to the center and stopping the mad democrat led rush to socialism now resumed in spades under Obama.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

This is a picture of the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, one of the original seven wonders of the world, and, the largest and most grand of the many temples to this goddess sprinkled around the Mediterranean by the Greeks.  Having been to Ephesus (the temple is located in a near-by city) several times over the years it is shocking how neglected this site is by the Turkish government.  We're talking about one of the Seven Wonders of the World here, and all that remains of it is that solitary column on the right side of this picture.  Those structures in the background have nothing to do with thenTemple. They are the ruins of a fortress, I believe, from two different periods in history, one Greek the other Roman.  All the terrain one sees in the foreground is littered with the remains of the building that once stood here.  Something should be done about this waste of an archaeologic site that thousands of tourists visit annually and see only building parts strewn about the landscape.






Anyone remember a fourth-century-BC Greek named Herostratus? He's the guy whose name history has recorded solely on account of his having burned down the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, in 356 BCE -- so that history would record his name.  I've often wondered how one burns down one of the structures created out of quarried stones?

Taqiya and the post partisan presidency

When it eventually becomes time to assess this miserably failed presidency, this Roanoke speech by Obama will likely be cited as what he meant by post partisanship and, for that matter, changing the culture of Washington, two of his most blatantly false claims made by him and his supporters in the '08 presidential campaign.  Obama has easily been the single most divisive president since the Civil War unfairly caused that dubious distinction to fall to Abraham Lincoln.  It is almost inconceivable how divisive and even destructive the incumbent president has been to civil comity and discourse in this country since he took office nearly 4 years ago.  But when you think about it, this was all quite predictable and even  inevitable.  Obama is a product of Chicago machine politics,  always the poster child for most corrupt city government in the country.  In addition, many believe Obama is a closet Marxist-socialist politician who, like all fanatics of this ilk, believes the end justifies the means. Islamists also believe that lying, dissembling and otherwise deceiving non-believers in the promotion of "the true faith", is perfectly permissable.   Muslims call this practice Taqiya.*  Christians call it a sin.  Even if Obama is not a Muslim, as some claim, practicing Chicago-style politics and his Marxist-socialist beliefs account for his serial lying since he first entered politics.  Remember Saul Alinsky? The man simply has no qualms about telling untruths.  What's more he knows his followers, both voters and enablers in the media, have no qualms in this regard either.  Under these circumstances the only thing Christians and right thinking secularists can hope for is that enough of the electorate sees through this highly destructive and yes, evil behavior, and votes this man and his administration out of office.  Otherwise this country continues down the path to becoming a banana Republic, say along the lines of Venezuela.


*  TAQIYA -- Lying is allowed, as stated in Islamic doctrine, when a believer (Muslim) is speaking to a non-believer (non-Muslim) for the purpose of achieving his goal, the advancement of Islam. When this convenient tool is utilized by a Muslim in speaking to the non-Muslim, it is especially effective in promoting acceptance of Islam.