Back a few years ago there was a Star Trek spinoff show that I loved, Star Trek: The Next Generation. It had some great characters, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Wesley Crusher, Warf the Klingon, and Commander Data; and it had one very memorable alien 'enemy' called The Borg.

The Borg was an organism that invaded worlds and assimilated every member of the invaded race that could be captured into it. The Borg had one consciousness, was basically one organism made up of many living parts. In one episode The Borg managed to capture and assimilate Captain Picard who was only able to escape with the help of a 'part' of the Borg, a young lady called Seven of Nine ( Seven for short). Seven had no independent thought or freedom as she had been a part of the Borg for her whole life and had to learn how to be free.

I bring this up in the context of some of us insisting that new immigrants must assimilate the way that immigrants in the past did. But I don't believe that immigrants of the past assimilated, I think they integrated. Some may see this as an insignificant play on words, but I believe that words have meanings that carry real power, so we must use them wisely.

When you say that a person or group must assimilate, it is almost like asking them to commit cultural suicide. When you ask them to assimilate, what you are really doing is asking them to give up everything about them that makes them who they are as a group. That may be the reason that so many new immigrants are unwilling to assimilate, because they feel as though they are being asked to stop being themselves and become someone else.

While it is not unreasonable to ask new member of American society to adopt the language and to learn the history of their new home, it is unreasonable to tell them that it is somehow wrong to hold on to their ethnic identity. America has never honestly asked newcomers to assimilate, it has always asked them to integrate.

When newcomers integrate, they become a part of the whole without being asked to deny who they are. They are asked to become one of us, and to add their special flavor to the American melting pot. That is what makes us special, the fact that we can absorb newcomers, add their unique viewpoints and cultural traditions to ours, and to make it American. Just look at a place like Louisiana with its diverse population, different language patterns, and the like. While there are differences in the way people talk, or where they go to church ( if at all) they are still Americans.

I think we should continue to encourage our new citizens to integrate with us and add their dash of spice to America and leave the language of assimilation out of it. We want them to be unique individuals...not Seven of Nine.

 One of my favorite rap songs was by a group called Blacksheep and was called This or That . The hook basically says " You can get with this, or you can get with that...the choice is yours." That line is especially apropos concerning the GOP as the '08 elections approach.

Right now we are being inundated from all sides telling us that Rudy Giuliani is the right guy for us to choose. After all, "America's Mayor" rose to the occasion after the 9/11 attack on New York and has a good handle on the Islamic threat. And according to many in the conservative movement he is the most electible of the early candidates...and has the biggest name among them.

Now, this is not strictly about Rudy and his candidacy; however, that is the impetus for what I am saying here. I am asking the conservatives what they are going to choose in the upcoming primary season. Are we going to be party voters, or are we going to hold true to our principles?

You see, if you are a Party person then Rudy seems like a dream come true. He is (allegedly) strong on national defense, and he is trying his best to say all the right things about social issues to bring in social conservatives on his side. As a Party voter, you can excuse his stance on gun control and his schizophrenic ramblings about abortion...how he hates it, but how he believes in a "woman's right to choose".  A good Party man/woman can easily overlook all of his flaws simply because he may give the Party a better chance of winning in '08.

For the conservatives, we cannot overlook what this man is really about. His enthusiastic support of gun control by itself is a huge red flag for us. If this man is so willing to restrict the rights of the people in this manner to satisfy his liberal leanings, what other rights is he willing to trample on? We look at him and know that he is not in any way, shape, form, or fashion a real conservative; therefore, we cannot give him our support.

But the big picture here is not about Rudy Giuliani, it is about the soul of the GOP. Accepting Rudy or any other WISH Republican as the nominee will signal to the conservative movement that the GOP is no longer for them, that it is more interested in being in power than in really serving the people. And the embrace of the WISH Republicans will be the end of the GOP's chances at regaining power. Conservatives are the heart and soul of the GOP and a steady diet of WISHes will only serve to push the conservatives away. How can we be expected to continue to support a Party that is openly shunning us?

So the GOP needs to choose: This or that? The choice is yours.

*WISH: when it suits him/her

Oh boy, this is rich! This week has put a stupid look on the faces of the Democrats in Congress that is priceless! All of the stuff they pulled as the minority party is coming back to bite them right in the @ss! This is too funny for words!

These learned Democrats have just found out that they have no power, even after winning an electoral victory in November 2006. Their majority is too small in the Senate, and with the unpredictability of "independent Democrat" Joe Liebermann the Donkey Party is in a bad fix. Witness their failure to garner the votes needed to pass their non-binding resolution on Iraq in this rare saturday session. I guess Dingy Harry Reid thought he had the votes needed locked up before he called this session, but he just absorbed a humiliating loss on the slowest news day of the week!

The problem that the Donkeys are having now stem from the tricks they pulled as the minority party, mainly that of requiring a 60 vote super majority on many issues. By pulling that stunt they have painted themselves into the position of needing 60 votes to pass their stupid resolution; before they insisted on changing the rules they would have had the necessary votes in the Senate. Now, they are left hanging due to their own previous machinations.

And what makes it so funny is that the media can't help them now! The fight to require super majorities is too fresh in the public mind for the media to try to spin it as some GOP dirty trick. Harry Reid, Diane Fienstein, and Russ Feingold were too involved in making this the new standard to now back away from it without being seen as the hypocrites they truly are. Think about it: There is finally a problem the Donkeys have that the MSM can't bail them out of. Priceless!!

Now, I don't know if the GOP has the ...ummm...testicular fortitude to continue to stand together on the big issues. But if they do, they will soon realize that by losing in November in a strange way they gained power. Just by being obstructionists like the Donkeys were they can have a huge impact on the workings of the Congress. What a world! The Donkey's dirty tricks have totally backfired on them!

This is the definition of chickens coming home to roost!

narcissism: (n) undue dwelling on one's own self or attainments

At the risk of sounding 'homophobic' and being politically incorrect, let me say that I am sick to death of gay people. That does not mean that i hate gays, or want them to die, or anything like that. I am just sick of hearing their complaints, their agitating for special consideration, and especially their proud pronouncements of the fact that they are gay.

Last week a former NBA player, John Amechi, announced on ESPN's Outside the Lines Sunday that he was in fact a homosexual. Of course ESPN flogged the 'historic' announcement on it's programs all week, ran a million snippets of the interview, and spent a week telling us how Amechi was so brave to come out. They had discussions on their television programs, and on their radio broadcasts all about how tough it must have been for Amechi, especially seeing how 'homophobic' athletes are, ya know!

What I was thinking, though was this: Who cares? I don't care now, nor did I ever care about who John Amechi spent his night with. That is none of my business, and I would have appreciated him keeping his personal life just that...personal.

Which brings me to my broader point, namely that I am sick to death of having to hear about gays all the time. The gay lobby, and some individual gays, are the most narcissistic people in the world! They act as though the entire world wants to know whether they are gay, straight, or other and they can't wait to tell us. Well guess what people, we don't want to know! And your insistence on telling us is a major annoyance; why can't you keep your business to yourselves?

And please, do not act surprised when others react negatively to you and your lifestyle! If you didn't want to deal with any negative reaction, then you should have kept your business out of the street! You want everyone to know what you do, and who you do it with then be prepared to take the backlash that comes with it.

And before anyone goes off and acts like I live in some cloistered world and have never dealt with gays, let me disabuse you of that notion right now. I have had coworkers that were some of the most outrageous gays you ever wanted to see, and they ended up as friends of mine. I have family members that were gay, and they were never my gay cousins; they were simply my cousins. And one of the most stable relationships I have ever seen in my life is that of a couple of gay men that were together when I was a kid of about 8 years old and are still together now. The thing about them, though, was the fact that they felt no need to announce to the world that they were gay. They simply lived their lives the way they wanted to, they didn't ask anyone for permission and never expected to get everyone to approve of them. They spent their time living life and not trying to force themselves on the rest of the community.

I just wish that the gay lobby, and individual gays in many cases, would just take that approach. Live your life, and leave me out of it. The whole world does not need, nor cares to know, what your sexual orientation is. Maybe if all of the "Look at Me!" tactics were discarded, and all of the attempts to force others to accept the gay lifestyle were abandoned maybe more acceptance would be forthcoming. But this continuing narcissism only leads to more resentment from heterosexuals who feel that they are being coerced into accepting 'alternative' lifestyles. How about focusing more on just being a person, and less on being a gay person?

I bet that wold gain you more acceptance than to continuing to shout "Look at Me!" at every opportunity. Just something to think about.

With the installation of General David Petraeus as the new commander of US forces in Iraq, and the President's decision to go ahead with his 'surge' in Iraq, I believe we have come to a critical point in this war. President Bush has rejected, some would say too late, the minimalist philosophy of Donald Rumsfeld and has adopted a modified version of the famed "Powell Doctrine". With the influx of troops in and around Baghdad we may finally be getting down to business.

There are many different ideas  in conservative circles about how this war should have been fought, whether the tactics have been the right ones, and whether we have had the correct strategy in Iraq to win. The beauty of our debate, though, has been that at the heart of it all has been the desire to achieve a victory. We have long since stopped arguing about the causes and justifications for war and have instead spent our time trying to figure out how to succeed; you see, we know the stakes and realize the true importance of the mission at hand.

Contrast that to the endless "debate" among the Democrats about things that cannot be changed. They waste valuable time and resources jawjacking about why went into Iraq, and they all like to claim they were mislead in some way. And off course the media allows them to get away with that foolishness because they are just as invested in the defeat of President Bush and his policies as the Democrat Party.

But I think, and hope, that the President has come up with a plan that will work. We have tried the minimalist approach with varying degrees of success, now we'll try a different approach. I believe that if we build up the number of troops and unite their hands, we can make a big move towards ending some of the conflict in and around Baghdad. It is also nice to see the protective mantle being lifted from Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Militia making them fair game.  If we crush them I believe that will go a long way towards pacifying a large part of the city.

So to General Petraeus and the men under his command I wish them godspeed, and give 'em hell! You have our prayers and our support, no matter what!

I was listening to the Rush Limbaugh program yesterday and I found myself doing something that I don't usually do, disagree with the host. In this case, the host was Roger Hedgecock who was filling in for the vacationing Rush and the topic was the dearth of role models in public life. Hedgecock was going on about the story of the obviously disturbed astronaut who drove cross country to confront another astronaut over a man that is married to neither of them...you have all seen the story by now. What Roger was saying that got me talking to the radio in my car was when he asserted that the actions of this one woman was going to forever taint the image of the space program and those people that qualify to be astronauts, and then he went on a tear about how there are no role models left and began to cite the instances of teachers abusing their students and the rash of postal worker shootings as examples, and how much politicians have lost respect over the years.

While Roger was right to an extent, I believe that his fundamental point was flawed. He is doing what so many people, including conservatives, are prone to doing these days. He is painting with the broadest possible brush and in so doing is managing to smear everyone.

While the antics of this one astronaut look bad, in my view that does not taint the entire space program! this one woman does not diminish the careers of people like Sally Ride, John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, or the late Ron McNair; these men and women are still worthy of respect and adulation for what they accomplished and are still people that parents can use as examples of what working hard and following your dreams can get you in life.

Likewise, while there are plenty of knuckleheads in professional sports, they are overshadowed by a bevy of good guys in the games. For every Ron Artest in the NBA  who acts mostly out of selfishness and irresponsibility, you will find many more people like Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, and even Carmelo Anthony. These are guys that give their time, efforts, and money to make the communities that they live and work in better for everyone involved. Although the media will chase a story about a player firing a gun in the air at a night club, or a story about a player using drugs, those are not the only stories out there. There are good guys in sports, we just need to take the time to recognize them.

Also, while most see politics as a dirty business filled with sleazy players, there are good people involved in the process. For every Mark Foley that comes to light, there are people like Orrin Hatch, Rick Santorum, and even a guy like Harold Ford Jr. While we may not agree with the politics of these men, they are all basically good men trying to do the best that they can for the country. But instead of applauding them, we fixate on the most reprehensible people in the field and act as though they are the norm. If there are no role models in politics, it is because we choose not to see them!

Further, for every teacher that abuses a child, for every one that claims to be "in love" with some teenager, there are thousands that freely give of their personal time and money to have na impact on the lives of their students. There are teachers all over who give encouragement to children, who show concern for them, who go the extra mile to see their students succeed. We cannot lose sight of these teachers and their work in the haze of the media portrayals of the worst of the lot as typical of the profession.

There are role models out there for our kids to look up to, we just have to be willing to ignore the media clutter and find them. Don't fall for the idea that all athletes are bad guys, that no politicians can be trusted, or that our teachers are just predators in disguise because it's just not so. There are good people out there, people that are worthy of being role models. We just need to celebrate them as much as the media shows us the other side. They deserve it.

A few days ago I was talking to my mother on the phone, and the conversation turned to politics (an unusual topic for us), specifically what Barak Obama was all about. My mom wanted to know what was it that made Obama think that he was qualified to be President, and she wondered why it is that the Black establishment has not really warmed to him yet. Now I am going to tell you why I think that Obama-mania is not exactly sweeping the Black community.

Others have already noted and explained that Jessie Jackson and Al "Do" Sharpton are not on board with Obama because he represents a threat to them, and others feel that he has not paid homage to the leftist lean of the "civil rights" establishment. I must agree that Al and Jessie probably see him as a threat to their stranglehold on "black leadership", and I agree that Obama hasn't been as openly left as many other blacks in the government, like Maxine Waters or Elijah Cummings. But make no mistake, you do not rise that high in national politics as a Black Democrat without being left of center...Barak has just been able to camouflage it better than most!

I believe that the real reason that Barak has not really taken off in the Black community is that he isn't Black like me. What I mean by that is that Barak Obama does not have all of the cultural and racial legacies that Blacks born here in America have. While Barak may know of the Civil Rights Movement, and may have a great appreciation of it he does not really own  it like we do. American Blacks were directly impacted by the movement and it may be hard for someone that had no real stake in it to truly understand the depth of the struggle.

Also, Barak is not from here, and that matters. There is a feeling that Barak is not really one of us, that he is from somewhere else and is trying to become one of us. His family history is different from the histories of most Black folks in this country; he has lived all over the world in several different cultures, while we have spent our lives trying to define just what out culture is as both Blacks and Americans. Obama just does not have that frame of reference of struggling to "find" himself in relation to the dominant culture in America that Black Americans do.

I guess what I'm getting at is that Barak Obama just seems foreign to many Blacks in this country, and it is hard for many of us to connect with him. He just seems too smooth, too packaged, too much of a political product for us to willingly embrace him. We all (black and white) like our politicians to have a human side, to have a few rough edges and Barak just doesn't have that. And that is why I think that he isn't going gangbusters in the Black community.

He's just not Black like me.

Hey fellow Hall members, I bet you didn't know it but you are talking to a big time lobbyist! Yup, that's right...little old Flagwaver has hit the political BIG TIME!!!

See, according to Nancy Pelosi I should be treated like a K Street lobbyist because I have a politcal blog that has more than 50 readers. That little gem is in the proposed legislation that Jay Sekulow wrote about in a Townhall article recently. His take was on the outrage of the G trying to claim that any church that met a spending threshold for broadcasting and had an expressed view on political matters is to be treated as a grassroots lobbying group. For many, when it was churches that seemed to be the target, there was no problem with that. Hey, if churches wanted to take on political topics, then they should be treated as lobbyists, right?

But I bet no one stopped to think that the Democrats would use that same legislation to come after bloggers, did they? Well you should have, because we all know how much the left hates free speech; speech is only free when it agrees with their point of view!  Now they have me in their sights, and Cynewulf, BrianR, Celticdragon, and many others just like us simply because we have blog readerships over 50 people and espouse political views. If the Democrats get their way, we will have to register as lobbyists or face fines and monetary penalties. Anyone besides me feeling that chill wind blowing?

Folks, we are starting to reap what we sowed in the last election. When we abandoned our Party because of unhappiness with the actions of some Party members in D.C. we allowed the Democrats to take power. Now we are seeing just the type of devilment the Dems will get into when given power to play with.

So congrats to all of my blogging friends, as we have hit the big time together. Now just hope that our voices aren't silenced  or regulated because of a fit of pique we had in November.

Ya know, being BIG TIME ain't all it's cracked up to be!

Hello folks! Since I have a passion for sports like my passion for the subjects I cover here, I have started a sports blog and would like to invite any of my readers to visit. It is located at http:www.sportingnews.com/blog/89falcon and is called The Spade on Sports. Check it out and tell me what you think!

With the King holiday just past, and Black History Month looming I started to think about some of the illusions that we hold of historical figures. Too often we look back at our forebears and see them with a halo and wings ensemble that we all know is not justified. That doesn't mean that the people were not good people, or that their accomplishments should be diminished; it simply means that they are more than the saintly veneer we put on them.

Likewise, there are those that we look back on and immediately apply the devil's horns to, whether or not they deserve it. We take the word of "experts", "historians", or common knowledge about them and judge them falsely. We do not take the time to take a real look at what the people really stood for, who they truly were, or give them any credit for evolving over time.

For example, take Martin Luther King Jr. According to our rosy historical lenses, Dr. King was all sweetness and light and damn near deserving of sainthood. After all, he was the leader of the civil rights movement and he was assassinated while advocating for racial justice. While all of that is true, it does not mean that King was a saint...not by a long shot!

Now, I may lose my ghetto pass for saying this out loud (so to speak), but Dr. King was...shall we say...less than saintly. He was a known adulterer, had some serious leftist ideas about the role of the central government,  is on record as saying that capitalism would fall and be replaced by communism, and had his doubts about the reality of Christ's second coming. Now, I know the familiar refrain when it comes to his being taped cavorting with his concubines is that the FBI should not have done it, and of course you would be right in saying so. But the fact remains that if he had simply been faithful to his wife there would have been nothing to tape!

My point here is not to destroy the reputation of King, but to point out that he was just a man with human foibles like everyone else. His personal shortcomings do not diminish the great work he did in the Civil Rights Era; in fact they magnify them in a real way. It takes something special for a man, who makes mistakes just like all of us, to be willing to take a leadership role in a movement that was fraught with such danger. I think that makes King all the more special because he was able to overcome his own problems and help lead the way to America beginning to live up to her ideals of justice and equality. Maybe he was just a little more Moses than Jesus.

Then there is the flip side that is personified by Malcolm X. Most people hear the name and immediately conjure images of an angry, white hating, antisemetic Muslim bent on destroying American society...an American Bin Laden, if you will. The brief mentions he gets in textbooks reinforces that image and the conventional wisdom does as well. But is that all there is to the man, or is there more?

While Malcolm as a member of the Nation of Islam did embody the most hateful aspects of NOI "theology", he was much more than the caricature that is usually painted of him. Even during his time with the NOI, Malcolm counted as one of his closest personal friends Mike Wallace...yes, that Mike Wallace; intrepid reporter, father of Chris, and a well known Jew. So how antisemetic could Malcolm have really been to hold Mike Wallace as a dear friend?

And does anyone know that after being expelled from the NOI after the assasination of JFK, Malcolm became an orthodox Muslim and it was through his faith that he came to see the unity of mankind? His hajj to Mecca with people from the world over, of all different skin tones, languages, ethnicities, and nationalities woke him up to the fact that all people have the same basic needs...food, shelter, and a relationship with their God to nourish their spirits.

Surprised? I bet some of you are, because you have never had anyone offer this type of information to you. You have all just gone along with the flow and not stopped to think about whether the whole story was being told or not.

All of us need to lose our illusions about our historical heroes and villains. We need to look harder and deeper at what is true and what is not. We need to embrace the whole story as opposed to embracing only that which we want to believe. That way we can make honest judgements on our history and not be held at the mercy of those that tell us just what they want us to know.

Let's all lose our illusions so that we can step into the sunlight and see what's really going on!

 A few years back, there was an excellent movie starring Diane Lane, George Clooney, and Mark Wahlberg that was called "The Perfect Storm". It was basically a movie based on the story of the sailors on the fishing boat Andrea-Gail that was caught out at sea and lost when a couple of fierce storm systems merged, creating the so-called "perfect storm" that sank the boat and lost the crew at sea forever.

Looking at the "Duke Rape Case" is an eerie parallel to that movie, but instead of a convergence of storm systems, there was a convergence of P.C. sensibilites that have sullied the names of Reade Seligman, Colin Finnerty, and David Evans for the rest of their lives.

When these three men were accused of rape in the liberal haven of Duke University, the gates of PC hell were thrown open and the hellhounds were unleashed on these young men. First came the apparently false charges, and in quick succession came the predictable campus marches, the pious response by the administration, the coming of the PC cavalry, and the professional hate mongers.

Je$$ie Jac$on came blowing into town to show his support for the "victim" and offering to pay her tuition to North Carolina Central University, the New Black Panthers came into town to disgrace the name and legacy of the real Black Panthers with their racist rhetoric, and the campus marchers  came demanding that the three men admit they were guilty. Mind you, there was NO evidence that a crime had even been committed, much less that these three were involved in anything more than a loud party; they were being told to claim guilt simply on the strength of an allegation!

Then there was the media that led the charge in branding the Duke Three as rich white boys that were guilty because, well, they were rich white boys. For the media and their PC sensibilities, being rich and white was all the evidence of a crime they needed. It mattered not that the alleged victim had more stories than the Arabian Nights; all that mattered was that they stood accused. Nancy Grace( who always looks like she just sniffed a warm, wet one) was the most shrill in her denunciations of the Duke Three. But she was closely followed by the people at ESPN, their parent ABC, CBS...you know, the usual litany of liberal media outlets. The only people that actually did a good job reporting this story, who actually went to Durham and interviewed people other than the usual suspects was HBO's  Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel;  for simply doing a solid job, they deserve kudos.

Add to that a prosecutor that sold his soul for a chance to be the elected DA of Durham county, and a police force that broke its own rules in order to get a suspect identification and you have the makings of the perfect storm. Add a liberal dose of the moralistic who act as though the fact that these guys were at a wild party was in some way a justification for the hell they have been subjected to and you have the final piece to make the perfect storm.

But just like in a physical storm, people have lost their view on what is really important here. While all of those that comment on the ethical lapses by the prosecutor, the shoddy police work, and the problems of the legal system are making valid points, they are missing what is most important.

At the end of the day, in the middle of this storm are three young men that have been smeared in the worst way imaginable. Seligman, Finnerty, and Evans stand accused of one of the most vile crimes that we have in our society. They stand accused of raping a helpless woman, of forcing themselves on her, and of holding her against her will. And though the rape charges have been dropped, these men will always stand accused of that crime in the eyes of the world...that charge will never leave the minds of the people.

So while you argue back and forth about what, if any changes, need to be made to the system, or what should be done to Mike Nifong, or what should happen to the accuser, don't forget about the Duke Three. Because this is about them, not us...and we would do well to remember that.

Hopefully, they will will not be ultimately lost like the Andrea-Gail, but will come out clean on the other side of this situation. They have been tossed about by this perfect storm, but by God's grace they will see a rainbow after the storm.

They deserve nothing less.

for more information go to http://www.slate.com/id/2148546/

The tyrant is gone! Last night the Iraqi people were finally freed from their long, national nightmare known as Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti. He finally got his just desserts for the hell that he personally dragged the Iraqi people through, and the pain and anguish he poured out on his neighbors.

But before he could even get to the gallows, to take his long drop at the end of a short rope, the media and it's ideological allies were already trying to create some controversy. All day yesterday I watched news outlets trying to determine if Saddam had been given up to Iraqi custody, and if so should the Americans have done so. Then there were the reports about how his trial was conducted and how his appeals were denied, as if that really mattered!  And then there were the "This is going to cause a spike in violence" stories that the networks started to run. So what if a spike in violence comes at the death of Saddam; we are in a war, and violence is a part of war. But you know the media...they just don't get that part of the whole war situation.

Then this morning, I tuned into to CSPAN and they have the idiot director of CAIR on to tell us all about the problems of executing old Saddam. According to CAIR, the timing was wrong because it fell two days before some Moslem holiday celebrating the end of the Hajj-you know, when they travel to Mecca to walk around the Dome of the Rock-and that allegedly sends some type of anti-Moslem message. And if that didn't grab you, then Saddam should have been kept alive to stand trial for the atrocities committed against other groups, instead of being executed for his crimes against the Shia. My question is: Who cares about that? Saddam was tried for the case of slaughtering a bunch of Shia, convicted, sentenced, had his appeals, and then got what was coming to him; that, my firends, is the definition of swift justice! And as far as I'm concerned, dead is dead! Everyone knows the crimes he committed against his people, other trials will be held that makes it clear to the world what he did, and the truth will be out there for all to see. So what purpose would it have served to leave him alive for all the time it would have taken to be tried for everything he did...then be hanged? He'd still be dead, and his defenders would still be outraged. So, you may as well cut out all the waiting involved and get him gone now!

Then there were the predictable libster callers who called in to say that Saddam's trial was a farce, that he did not deserve to be hanged, that his death would cause problems for America all over the Middle East, and that this is not what America stands for; you know, the Phylo/Kimberley/Tanabear viewpoint.  The thing about all of this is: We didn't try him, the Iraqis did! They wanted him gone, and had it not been for us keeping him in our custody, I will venture a guess that we would have already heard about his death months ago.

And I can guran-damn-tee you that the Kurds aren't shedding any tears over Saddam's demise, the Shia population was out celebrating, and the people of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait are probably rejoicing over the fact that the man that launched brutal wars against them has gone on to meet his Maker. Those who suffered under his evil regime and those attacked by him aren't shedding any tears, so you can bet that I'm not going to either!

So last night, a little after 10 p.m. EST the closing of this deal was finally completed. After months of searching and haggling the closing was completed. Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti officially bought the farm somewhere in Baghdad.

Good riddance to bad rubbish!

Most of us in the South know the saying "American by birth and Southern by the grace of God" and all of us knows what it means. And I am one of those that feels that he is Southern by the grace of God!

I love being from the South; it's history, tradition, and values have helped make me who I am. I love the fact that I hail from the Confederate state of North Carolina, and I appreciate the role that she played in the Civil War. You see, most North Carolinians were not fighting to preserve slavery, but to preserve their idea of freedom. Only about 30% of the citizens of the state owned slaves, but 100% believed that it was the right of the states to determine the way the states decisons were made...so they decided to stand up for their rights. What is more American than defending your individual rights against an increasingly far reaching federal power?

I love the Confederate battle flag for the same reason; I may not agree with the principles of every man that carried that flag, but I can admire their willingness to sacrifice their comforts, conveniences, and very lives to defend their freedoms. So to me, the battle flag is no more a symbol of racism than an American flag is. Both flags, and the Cross, have been appropriated by hate filled men...but that does not make them symbols of hate in my book!

I love the way we in the South treat one another, too. I love the fact that we all, black, white, or other are willing to greet one another in a cordial manner. It doesn't matter whether we know you or not, if we see you we speak to you! Men seem to be more chivalrous in the South, women more feminine, and childen more well behaved than you will find most anywhere else. That may just be my bias showing, but hey, that's how I see it!

Hell, I'll even take our racists and bigots here in the South over any from anywhere else in the nation! See, our racists and bigots here are honest about who and what they are; they don't spend a lotof time putting up phony fronts for anyone. You know who they are, where they are, and what they think so it's easy to deal with them. They don't make any pretense of liking the groups they have turned into the "other", and the "other" does not pretend to like them either. They are who they are and it's easy to deal with them!

And those are just a few of the things I love about the South! I also love the food, the weather, the sense of family, and the comraderie of the South. Because all of us, black or white, rich or poor, all believe at least one thing in common: I am American by birth, but Southern by the grace of God!

To all of the regular visitors to the Spade, and any who just happen to stumble by, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May God keep all of you safe and secure in His arms in the New Year!

To most Christians Matthew 7:15-20 conjures up images of people like Jim Jones, Syung Yung Moon, Joseph Smith, or David Koresh; wildeyed prophets, mystics, and poseurs claiming to be the Christ. And this type of charismatic leader that willingly leads people to destruction, both spiritual and physical, is to be considered a threat. But there are other, more subtle threats to the Body of Christ that we let into our lives and never think twice about them, but they are just as destructive as the aforementioned charismatic deceivers. They are the feel good, inspirational preachers that have come into vogue in recent years.

I am talking about people that have huge mega-churches, claim to be pastors for 5000 member congregations, and only tell people that God is going to give them something. You all know the type, and most of you have probably felt the same twinges of disgust and dismay that I have as you hear them speak. They are the ones that never alert their flocks that sin actually exists, or that man is fallen and in need of redemption. They are loathe to tell their flocks that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) or that not everyone that cries "Lord, Lord" will enter the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:32).

No, these preachers are more concerned with singing some Pollyanna song that in Christ all is sweetness and light. They are preaching the message that everyone is supposed to be rich, and if you're not then there is something wrong with your walk with God. They have turned God into a heavenly ATM...just walk up, say the magic words, and God will make all your dreams come true! Need a job...call on Jesus! Need a new car...call on the Lord! Need a mate...just dial up God's dating/marriage service! No waiting, no lines, operators standing by!

They refuse to tell their flocks the truth, which is that walking with God is a hard road. Don't believe me, then go read Matthew 10: 34-38 and see what Jesus had to say on the matter! We are going to be persecuted, hated, reviled, and despised by this world because we have put on Christ; life does not get easier for the Christian...the reward just gets sweeter!

But too many preachers nowadays will not say this to their flocks. I suppose they are afraid that they will lose members, and in so doing lose some prestige...and maybe even a few dollars. Too many mega-church preachers glory in the riches of the world so much that they have lost sight of the Gospel they are supposed to be preaching. They enjoy jetting around the country, living the high life, writing books, selling tapes, and basically living the lives of successful businessmen. Now, don't ge me wrong here; I have no problem with a person that makes money doing what they are good at. I do have problems with those that are making a profit on the Word of God!

Bear with me here, because I am about to start stepping on some toes. And I am sure that I am going to mention some people that many of you like, respect, and probably have bought some of their merchandise.

I am tallking about people like Bishop T.D. Jakes. Now, I cannot say that he is not a man of God; as a matter of fact I believe that he is a gifted preacher. But when was the last time that Bishop Jakes did anything for free? Bishop Jakes always has some inspirational message, "Woman Thou Art Loosed" or some such, and he is always willing to share it...for a small fee. Maybe it's just me, but I have yet to read the passage in the Bible where the Lord tells his prophets to give this word to the people...for a small fee! If you have a truly inspired word from God that is going to benefit the Body of Christ you have a duty to SHARE it, not charge your brothers and sisters to hear it!

And I am talking about my least favorite, Mr. Pollyanna himself: Joel Osteen! This character, as far as I can tell rarely even mentions Jesus when he gives his inspirational messages. I say inspirational messages because I have never heard him preach the Gospel to anyone. I have heard him talk about how God is going to make you rich, how you should always smile in the face of problems, and how you should have a positive outlook on life. Maybe, maybe this is true, but what does that have to do with the Gospel?

This is a man that just last year could not say that non-believers would not go to heaven! He was so interested in being P.C. and nonthreatening to the world that he denied the very words of God! John 14:6 says quite simply, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." Now take a look at what Osteen said to Larry King at this site: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/20/lkl.01.html.
Any man that would deny the truth of Christ cannot be trusted to lead a church full of impresionable people!

I do not mean to just rag on these gentlemen, because there are more out there just like them. They just happen to be the biggest names in the game right now. And that is the whole problem; preaching the Gospel has become more of a hustle to these people than a calling. And that is why I chose to write this particular entry at this particular time...someone had to call this spade a spade.

Folks, the Gospel of Jesus is very simple and can be neatly summed up thusly: Jesus was born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit, was crucified on a tree to redeem men from sin, He took the power away from Death, Hell, and the Grave, He rose after 3 days, He ministered to his flock for 40 days, He ascended into Heaven, and He is coming back. Simple, succinct, and powerful.

So the next time you find yourselves listening to Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, or Ken Copeland, listen to see if the Gospel is being preached. If it is not, I suggest you turn off the tv, open your Bibles, and reacquaint yourself with the Gospel.

That is the best way to combat and avoid the influence of these ravening wolves.