This Pup Has A New Home!

Hi all,

I see that a few folks have dropped by our old place and I wanted to make sure everybody knows that the real action is over at www.conservativepup.com.  Please come on over; I update several times a week, and would love to hear what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Pup

Thank You President Bush…

The Pup has moved to a new doghouse!

To all of you who have been coming by to read my blog, I appreciate it, and wanted to let you know that my new “doghouse” is located at www.conservativepup.com.

Hope you’ll come by and check out the new place, and please, leave a comment when you do.  My post for today, “Thank You President Bush” is there.

“Only Government…..”

When you prepare new ground for a garden, you have to do a lot of prep work before you can actually plant your seeds, tend the young plants, and finally, reap your harvest.  Pres-elect Obama is in the ground prep phase of his upcoming administration.

He’s telling all of us, almost every day, in as non-threatening way as possible, what he intends.  Many Americans won’t actually hear him, and even if they do, they will not know what he means.  I believe he is telling us exactly what his intent is.

“It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe,” Obama said. “Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy — where a lack of spending leads to lost jobs which leads to even less spending; where an inability to lend and borrow stops growth and leads to even less credit.”

Folks, we can’t say later on that we “had no idea” what Obama and his crew want to do.  The direction they want to take our country in is a clear break from our past and present path of liberty, free market capitalism, and equal opportunities for all.

I don’t believe for one second that only government can resolve, or even begin the resolution of this economic crisis.  As harsh as it sounds, we must allow the free market system to work as it would naturally.  If companies, even huge companies upon whom millions of people depend, have been irresponsible, careless, or frivolous with their cash, then we should allow the natural consequences of these actions to happen.  I for one can’t quite figure out how just giving billions of dollars to companies that run through money like a hot knife through butter will make any difference in the long run.  What will be different now, that will keep them from needing another bailout next year?

I am not an economist.  I don’t know a lot about economics and financial matters, but I do know that if I spend more than I bring in, and max out all my avenues of credit, that is my problem.  It’s my situation that I get myself into, and it is morally and ethically wrong to go ask my neighbor to pay my credit card bill and make a deposit into my bank account, so that I won’t go bankrupt.

I know these rules, and I go by them.  Corporations must do the same.  It is basic economic priniciples, and letting those principles work as they should brings short-term pain and hardship, but true recovery and increased prosperity for all in the end.

“Only government?”  Codespeak for “we know what’s best, and we’re going to move the country toward socialism like we’ve been trying to do for decades and now finally we have the best shot at it that we’ve ever had.”

Pay attention, people.

“Under God” Under Fire…..

Atheists are all agitated and upset about the inclusion of “so help me God”, and a prayer at President-Elect Obama’s inaugeration later this month.  I’m listening to Laura Ingraham‘s program and she is speaking with Michael Newdow, who has filed a lawsuit on behalf of atheists.

“We’re hoping to stop prayer and religious rituals at governmental functions, especially at the inauguration,” Don Barker, president of Freedom From Religion Foundation stated to FOX News.

Well, hmmmm…..So, do you think these folks are offended by the Declaration of Independence?  It mentions God a time or two.  They want so badly for this to be a secular country, they just can’t stand that it isn’t.  They ignore history, and the plain truth that this country was founded by believers in God, and the language of the Declaration of Independence reflects that.

People like Michael Newdow are tiresome to listen to.  He can’t answer the question, “how does this harm you?”  He can’t answer because there isn’t an answer.  It doesn’t harm him.  He just doesn’t like it.

More and more people are confusing “I don’t like it” with “that is offensive, or harmful to me.”  Not liking something is not the same thing as it being offensive to you.  We are beginning to use “offend” in all things, and are forgetting that sometimes we might just “dislike” it.  There are many things I don’t like, but I think I recognize the difference when something is truly offensive to me, and when I just don’t like it.

Michael Newdow is not offensive to me.  I don’t like listening to him, nor do I agree with his premise.  But he is not offensive to me because I just brush him off like a gnat, and go on about my day.  See the difference?  His beliefs are not mine, but his beliefs are not harmful to me.

My beliefs, and the beliefs of about 80% or more of the American people should not be offensive to him either.  My suggestion to him would be to find a new hobby, or take up gardening, and just ignore all those “offensive and harmful” references to God in our daily culture in this country.

How unfortunate for him, to be born in this country.  (sarcasm, for those of you who don’t know me)  The irony is, these atheists are safe and free to NOT believe as they wish, because of all the believers who founded, fought for, and built this country.

As I said, he and his statements are not offensive nor harmful to me.  But I’m watching.  Closely.  Just to make sure that these statements don’t start to take hold.  Then it will be harmful to me, and I will begin my own fight.  I suspect many of you will join in that fight to keep God in our language and our culture.

The Cat in the Manger….

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a baby born in a manger.  The baby’s parents, traveling to comply with a decreed census count, begged the innkeeper for a room, but, as many were on the road because of the ordained census, there were no rooms left.   The innkeeper kindly allowed them to spend the night out in the stable.
That night, this baby was born, and it was a wondrous thing.  This baby was special, most special, whose birth had been foretold by great prophets.  Angels sang in the skies, shepherds left their flocks to gather at the stable and honor their newborn king and his parents, and wise men from afar came with gifts.  It was a night like no other.

It was after, though, after the angels had finished their singing, after the shepherds had returned to their flocks, and the little holy family was alone again, that the baby began to cry.  His mother, named Mary, was a first-time mother and very young herself, but did all the things she knew to do to try to comfort her small son.  But  no amount of rocking, cuddling, singing, feeding, or changing, silenced the baby’s crying.

A small tabby cat sat watching from the back of the stable.  The cat saw Mary try and try to console the baby, finally putting him back in the manger and beginning to cry herself out of frustration.  The little cat came and sat at Mary’s feet, then a moment later, jumped up into the manger, curled herself up against the wailing babe, and began to purr.

In just a minute or two, the baby quieted, then fell sound asleep.  Mary had watched with wonder, and now with great gratitude in her heart, reached out and placed her hand on the cat’s head.  “Thank you, little cat, thank you for soothing my son, and helping him to sleep”.

Today, all descendants of that cat bear an “M” on their forehead, a mark of great distinction and honor, a visible reminder of Mary’s gratitude to a small cat in the manger.

This is one of my favorite Christmas legends, and I share it with you.  Christmas is a magical, wondrous, heart-filling time, and I wish for all of you the peace and joy that we are meant to have.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Arne Duncan, Your Junior High English Teacher Called….

Mr. Duncan, it’s “gave me”, not “gave I”.

I admit it.  I’m not exactly proud of it, but it’s just part of the way I am.

I am a grammar snob.

I blame my schoolteacher mother, several very good and particular English teachers from fourth grade on, and all that reading I did as a child.

Oh, I don’t mean that I’ll drop a friend because they misspeak, or even because they might habitually speak “grammatically incorrectly”.  I also won’t refuse to become friends with someone who uses poor or less-than-perfect grammar.

We all misspeak from time to time.  We all have learned some things incorrectly and find ourselves with a hard habit to break.

But, we aren’t going to be the next Secretary of Education.  Of the NATION!

I was ready to overlook it as a slip, but then I remembered that he was reading from notes.  So, he wrote it down that way?  Or someone else did, and he didn’t catch it?

I’m probably just overly tired tonight, which often makes me picky.  But is it too much to ask, that our big national head of the whole Education system in our country use correct grammar?  Maybe it’s part of all that change Obama campaigned on.

A Soldier’s Sacrifice…..

[This morning I posted this on another group I recently joined, and wanted to share it here as well.]

“I would like to introduce my dear friend to all of you. Her name is Linda, and she joined our group here about a week ago. She is a strong Christian woman, with solid conservative values. Linda has a wonderful sense of humor, and she and I have spent many an evening sitting around the supper table, laughing until we couldn’t speak.

A steadfast friend, an unfailing Christian, she is someone I would want “in my foxhole”.

Linda and her husband raised their family up on a ranch in North Dakota. She and her family are truly made of the stuff our pioneering ancestors relied upon to forge into new country, break ground, plant, harvest, and carve out a life for themselves in a rugged wilderness. She is a self-reliant, responsible, kind, and generous individual, and almost a year ago, she and her family made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Linda’s son, Carlo Meth, was killed in a parachute accident January 16, 2008. Carlo, a Special Forces (Green Beret) Sgt. 1st Class, sacrificed himself to save another jumper when their chutes became entangled during a training jump at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was 35 years old. He had been back in the States only ten days when the accident happened.

Carlo was born in Columbia and was adopted by Linda and her husband when he was five years old. He was raised in their loving family and in the church, and enlisted in the Army after graduating high school. He earned the coveted Green Beret in 2005, and served in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Africa. He earned numerous awards and commendations and was proud to serve his country.

Carlo and his family have paid the highest price possible for me to have the freedom to say and write what I think, without fear of being hauled off to prison. I treasure that freedom every day and am thankful beyond words for that freedom, and all the sacrifices made to retain it.

Please join me in welcoming Linda to our group. She is the very embodiment of the bedrock values we seek to sustain and return to, and I am grateful and proud to have her as a friend.

And I will never forget the sacrifice that Carlo made, and will honor that by doing what I can to protect and keep liberty alive.”

God bless my friend and her wonderful family, and help the rest of us be deserving of such sacrifice.

Blagojevich Still Has Fans……

What I want to know is, who are those 7% who still approve of the job Gov. Blagojevich is doing?  I’m speechless, that there would be even one person who, when asked by a pollster, would reply, ‘ yes, I think he’s doing a great job and I’m all for him’.

If any of you reading this are part of that “7% Club”, would you please leave me a comment explaining why you think your gov should just keep on doing the great job he’s doing?